On the Edge
by Isabell89
Summary: What happened to Martin and Danny after being shot at? Post Endgame. MS
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** On the edge

**Spoilers:** Endgame

**Summary:** What happened after the shooting? Post Endgame. MS

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Without a trace or its characters, but the plot is mine.

_**Author's Note:**_ This was my first fic ever, not just Without a trace but in general. I apologize for any mistakes; English is not my first language and when I first started writing, I did not have a beta. I am currently in the process of reading through this story again, painful though it might be (this was my first story after all, written at the ripe age of 15), to edit some of the worst grammar and spelling mistakes. Any changes you might notice (if anyone actually re-reads this) can be attributed to that fact. _08/04/09_

**Chapter 1**

He tried to move and groaned. His whole body ached, especially his head. 'What the hell happened?' He wondered. Slowly he forced his eyes open only to shut them again as everything became blurred. Carefully he lifted his hands to his head and felt blood trickling down his face.

He desperately tried to remember anything, but it seemed like his whole memory of the last few minutes was gone. 'Apparently I hit my head somewhere, so I guess that's why I don't remember anything.' There was no need to push further, because he knew he wouldn't remember much more.

So he forced his eyes open again. Again, everything became blurred, but this time he didn't flinch. Slowly, he recognised the outlines of cars parked across a street, he saw people standing around the car and he saw shattered glass everywhere.

And suddenly it hit him with full power: The traffic light. The van. The guys with the guns.

He shifted a little bit and felt a sharp pain in his left arm. When he looked down there was a dark red spot on his suit. Blood. A lot of blood.

"Fuck." He hissed as he noticed the searing hot pain shooting through his upper arm.

A bullet had hit him, but it seemed like it had gone through. He had been shot before and because of that he knew how bad it hurt to have a bullet in your body.

When he looked up again there were people everywhere, some were screaming, others were just looking at him, frightened. 'How about getting help?' He thought. 'Standind around and watching doesn't help anyone.' He opened his mouth and tried to speak, but found that his throat was dry, so he only managed a croak.

'Damn it! There are people everywhere and I don't even manage to say 'Help me'. Well, maybe someone already called an ambulance. They can't all be that stupid and just stand there and watch.'

Again he shifted and again something hit him with full power: Martin.

He was driving the car when these guys appeared and started shooting. Where was he? Was he okay?

He looked left and saw Martin lying there in his seat, covered in blood. Much more blood than the stain on his suit.

"Martin." He croaked and coughed.

"Martin." His voice grew stronger and again he said, "Martin."

"Martin!" He was yelling now.

He sat up quickly, maybe too quickly, because again he felt a sharp pain in his left arm. ignoring it, he turned and saw the people still staring at him.

"Somebody call an ambulance! My partner was shot!" He yelled.

Nobody was moving.

"Come on, why are you all standing there and not helping!" He was getting angry now.

Suddenly a man came running toward the car. He leaned down and looked at Danny worriedly. He examined his head and said "You shouldn't move. Your head wound looks nasty."

"Yeah, and I was shot, but I don't care right now!" He hissed. "Just help me get out of here!" He shot Martin a worried glance. He was extremely pale and his chest was only moving slightly.

"I am a doctor and I have to tell you that-"

"Look," Danny managed to say through clenched teeth. Again he was getting angry. "I really don't need a doctor right now. My partner was shot and he's dying, he needs a doctor, so just help me get out of this fucking car!"

The man looked at Martin and on his face Danny could see an extremely concerned look as he saw the large amount of blood on Martin's suit.

"OK." He simply said.

He got up and tried to open the door. Glass shattered and Danny had to turn away quickly to avoid being cut. Finally the man managed to open the door.

He took Danny's hand and helped him get out of the car. His legs were weak and if it hadn't been for the doctor he would have fallen to the ground. He grabbed the door and tried to steady himself.

Finally he managed to stand still and walked around the car to help Martin.

When he got there the doctor had already opened the door and was looking at Martin's wounds.

"We have to get him out of there. I called an ambulance and it should be here any minute, but he needs to lie down so we can put pressure on these wounds, or he'll loose too much blood."

"OK." Danny said. Martin looked really bad. He was scared that maybe, if the ambulance didn't arrive in time, it would be too late...

'You must not think that.' He told himself. 'Martin is going to be OK.'

The doctor grabbed Martin's shoulders and dragged him out of the car. Danny walked to his side and took his legs. The sharp pain in his arm returned but again he ignored it.

They lay Martin down on the street and the doctor unbuttoned his shirt. Danny looked at him and again, an extremely concerned look appeared on his face.

"He's going to be OK, right?" He asked.

The doctor turned to look at him. He saw the fear, pain and an almost pleading expression on the younger man's face.

"Right." He answered, although he wasn't sure if the man would even make it to the hospital. Two bullets had hit him, one in the chest, one in the stomach. Although the bullet in his chest seemed to have missed his lung and heart – if it hadn't, he would've been dead by now – he had lost a lot of blood.

The bullet in his stomach seemed to have caused more damage. The placement of the entry wound hinted at internal injuries, possibly to the liver, spleen or kidneys. All of these things could be live threatening. But none of this did he tell the young man at his side, who was already freaked out and scared for the life of his partner.

Danny looked down at his friend. "Hey, man, you hear that? You're gonna be OK." He was on the edge of tears. Martin looked so vulnerable, so weak. Never before had he seen his partner in such a bad condition.

He watched the doctor as he returned from the car with a first-aid box in his hands. "Can I do anything to help him?" He felt so useless. Martin lay there, bleeding badly and perhaps suffering, and he did nothing to help him. He couldn't do anything to help him.

The doctor put a white cloth on the wounds and said, "Press these on the wounds. We have to stop the bleeding. He already lost a lot of blood."

Danny did as he was told. As he looked down he thought he could see Martin blinking. "Martin?" He said.

When there was no response, he repeated his friend's name. "Martin?" Slowly, Martin opened his eyes.

"Hey partner, good to see you again. How you feelin'?"

Martin coughed and looked at Danny, who was looking at him expectantly.

"Like shit." He whispered.

"Yeah, I thought so. You don't look too good either." Danny managed a smile.

Martin smiled weakly in return. "'Happened?"

"Remember the traffic light and the van?" Martin nodded. "Well, these bastards in the van got out and started shooting. Looks like they hit you."

"You okay?" He coughed.

"Hey, don't try to speak too much. I'm okay. We'll get you to the hospital soon. They're going to help you."

Martin nodded again. "'Kay." He closed his eyes.

The doctor touched his shoulder. "Hey, stay awake. I know you're tired but it's very important that you stay conscious."

Martin opened his eyes again and looked at the doctor, then turned around and looked at Danny quizzically.

"It's OK, that's..." Danny looked at the doctor. He didn't even know his name.

"I'm Peter, and I'm going to help you until the ambulance arrives. Do you understand that?"

Martin nodded, but again he closed his eyes.

"Hey, you heard the doctor. Come on partner, look at me." Martin's eyes fluttered open. "OK, good. Now look at me, that gives you a lot of reasons to keep those blue eyes of yours open." He grinned.

Martin managed a small smile. "I'm cold."

Danny threw the doctor a concerned look. Feeling cold was never a good sign. "I think there's a blanket in the trunk of the car. Doc, you think you could..."

"I'll go get it." The doctor replied.

Danny looked back down at Martin. He was in a really bad condition. His face was pale and his breathing was shallow. 'Please, let the ambulance arrive soon.' He prayed.

Peter returned with the blanket in his hands. Danny grabbed it and draped it over Martin's legs.

Suddenly he felt someone grab his wrist. When he looked down he saw Martin looking at him.

"Don't leave me." He pleaded. The naked fear on his face was obvious.

"Hey, it's okay, I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying with you. OK?"

"'Kay." Martin relaxed a bit and some of the tension faded from his face.

"Danny?"

"Yeah, partner?"

"Could you... could you please tell... tell Sam that..." Danny had to lean closer to hear the words; he was hardly whispering. "I'm sorry... for everything that happened. I didn't mean to hurt her. I never meant to... Just… just tell her that I'm sorry and that... that I..."

Danny felt tears creeping up in his eyes. "That you love her?" He asked.

Martin nodded. "Yeah, tell her that I love her. Will you?" He looked at Danny expectantly.

"Of course I will." Tears were now trickling down his face.

"And tell Jack that he was a great boss, and tell Viv that it was an honor to meet her... and you know that you're my best friend and the best partner I've ever had..."

Suddenly Danny realized that he was trying to say goodbye. "Hey man, you're not going anywhere, so don't you dare and say goodbye to me." He took Martin's hand and squeezed it tightly. "I won't ever let my partner die, especially not like this, you understand?"

Martin nodded weakly. "'Kay."

By now, the ambulance had arrived. The EMTs started working on Martin and Danny had to step back. They put an IV into his arms and checked his vital signs. One of the EMTs went to the ambulance and returned with a gurney. Martin was put on it and they proceeded to push him into the ambulance.

Danny stood there watching them, motionless. He hoped his partner would be OK. He had to be OK.

"Danny."

Martin had his eyes wide open and was looking around, obviously in search for his partner.

"Can I ride with him?" Danny asked the EMT next to him.

"Danny." Martin repeated pleadingly.

"Please." Danny said.

The EMT looked at Martin, then turned to look at Danny and nodded. "OK, but you have to let us do our job." Danny nodded, got in and sat down next to Martin. He grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"Hey partner, I'm here. I'll ride with you OK?"

"Danny."

"Yeah, I'm here partner. You're gonna be okay, and when you get out of hospital you're gonna tell Jack and Viv and Sam what you just told me yourself. Understand?"

Martin nodded and closed his eyes, his grip on Danny's hand tightening almost imperceptibly. The ambulance drove off and the EMT in the back contacted Martin to a heart monitor. Almost immediately, the steady and reassuring beeping sounded through the back of the vehicle. _Beep beep beep beep..._

Suddenly, Martin's grip on Danny's hand loosened. "Martin?" Danny's voice held a hint of panic.

_Beep beep beepbeepbeepbeep_

"Martin!" He was nearly yelling by now.

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep_

Tears started rolling down his face.

_**A/N:**_ So, did you like it? evil grin I already finished writing chapters 2+3, but I thought ending it here would be more thrilling. So, if I get enough reviews I think I'll post them tomorrow... or on Thursday? It's up to you, so PLEASE REVIEW!

_08/04/09 ^^Demanding, wasn't I? lol So, I think I got the worst of it. __Still not completely happy with it, but I haven't watched the show in years, so this is merely a 'cleansing' process while I consider actually writing (and publishing) something again for another fandom._


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:**_ OK, here's chapter 2. Would have updated earlier, but there was a thunderstorm yesterday and I had to turn off my computer so... Well here it is. Thanks a lot for your great reviews! And thanks for reassuring me about my English (_Susan _and _Sam rules_); I'll try to correct my mistakes. The second and third chapter are a little more MS, but I'll try to put more DM into it as I saw you liked it (this goes out to _fairygurl_, _Sam rules_ and _thecheekymelly_)

To _Zonya_: I guess you were right about Danny, but I wanted to create some DM interaction and with both of them badly injured it wouldn't have been possible.

To _higherbeingfriendsfan_: Maybe I'll let Danny tell the others, we'll see. But thanks for the idea!

There's some medical stuff in the next two chapters. First, I'm no doctor so I don't know if any of it is possible; second, I don't have a dictionary with medical terms, so if I made mistakes, correct me please.

_Dedicated to: lapmal__, higherbeingfriendsfan, Sam rules, fairygurl621, bdoney, SusanWATfan, Zonya, thecheekymelly_

**Chapter 2**

"He flatlined!" The EMT shouted.

"Martin! Come on, don't dare dyin' on me! Not now!" Danny was panicking.

"Sir, I need you to move."

Danny looked at the EMT, not knowing what to do. He wanted to help, so he released Martin's hand and moved backwards. The EMT got the paddles out and shocked Martin.

Nothing.

He tried it again.

Nothing. The monitor still continued with the same long, monotonous _beeeeeeeeeeeeep_.

It drove Danny mad. Why couldn't he just turn it off? Again the EMT tried, and this time, something changed. The shrill, continous _beeeeeep_ turned into slow, but regular beeps.

"I got a pulse!" He said. "He's back!"

"Oh my god..." Tears were still streaming down Danny's face, but now they were tears of joy. "Hey partner, you like scaring the shit out of me, huh?" He grabbed Martin's hand and squeezed it tightly. "You stay with me now, understand?"

Martin looked horrible, but he was alive. Danny knew that his condition could change every second, but for now, he was alive. That was all that mattered.

Danny was going insane. During the ten minutes he had been standing outside the glass doors of this ER room, Martin hat flatlined twice. Each time the doctors had managed to bring him back, but he knew that the electroshocks from the paddles could do severe damage to the heart if it happened too often.

Right now, Martin was wheeled out of the room, surrounded by doctors and nurses. "Where are you taking him?" He asked as he ran after the doctors.

"Sir, you'll have to stay here, we're taking him to the OR, you are not allowed there. Just wait here, we'll inform you as soon as possible." A doctor explained.

One of the nurses took him by the arm and led him to a bench near the elevators. He tried to protest, but the nurse pushed him down and said, "Sir, you were shot. You need medical treatment. Just sit for a minute, I'll go get a doctor to take a look at your arm."

"No, I'm fine, I wanna go with..."

The elevator doors closed and Martin was out of sight. He realized that he couldn't help Martin right now, so he decided that maybe the nurse was right. He hadn't thought about it since he got into the ambulance, but now that he became aware of the injury again he felt a sharp, stinging pain in his left arm. The doctors would take care of Martin. He couldn't help him right now. He was the one who needed help.

So when the nurse returned with a doctor he did as he was told and followed them to a room where the doctor took care of his arm.

"Malone."

"Jack, it's Danny."

After the doctor had finished checking his arm – as he'd suspected, it was a through and through that merely needed cleaning up, a bandage and a couple days without any strain – Danny had gone up to the OR area to find Martin. The only thing the nurse had told him was that he was still in surgery. He sat there for a few minutes and suddenly it hit him that neither Jack nor Sam knew about the shooting yet. He pulled out his cell and dialed Jack.

"Danny, I was getting worried. I tried to call your cell twice, first time no one answered, second time it was turned off."

"Yeah, well, I guess... you should be worried." Danny replied slowly.

"What do you mean? What happened? Are you OK?" Jack's gruff voice sounded concerned.

"We were involved in a shooting."

"What?!"

"A van stopped us at a traffic light, two guys got out and started shooting at once. I got down to avoid the bullets and next thing I remember the van and Adisa Teno are gone."

"Are you hurt?"

"I was hit in the upper arm, but it was a through and through. I'm okay."

"What about Martin?" By the sound of Danny's voice Jack could tell that something was extremely wrong.

"Well, he wasn't so lucky. He was hit twice, once in the stomach and once in the chest." Danny could hear Jack inhale sharply. "I rode to the hospital with him, he flatlined once in the ambulance and twice while in ER. He's in surgery, but... I just… I don't know, Jack..."

Jack could hear that Danny was on the verge of tears. If Danny was crying it had to be really bad. "Hey, just relax Danny boy. Everything's gonna be fine, okay? I'll call Sam and then I'll get down there as soon as possible. Just calm down, will you?"

"'Kay." Danny managed to say. Although he knew that he was scared to death Jack seemed to be cool and his voice was comforting. Jack knew what to do, he would get down here and take care of everything.

Danny told Jack which hospital they were at and where to find him; Jack hung up with the assurance, "I'll be there as soon as I can."

Samantha fumbled with her keys and tried to open her door. She shifted the grocery bags in her arm and her keys fell to the floor.

"Damn it," she hissed.

She bent down and retrieved her keys, then finally managed to open the door. As she entered her apartment, the phone started ringing.

"Damn it," She hissed again. She'd only been home for a second and already someone was calling her. "Don't you dare call me in, Jack. I don't want to go back to work right now, I just wanna sleep," she muttered.

She put the grocery bags on the coffee table, threw her keys next to the bags and grabbed the phone. Looking at the caller ID, she recognised the number of Jack's cell. "Fuck," She swore. For a second she toyed with the idea of simply ignoring it; she could claim him she hadn't been at home when he asked about her whereabouts the next day, but then thought better of it. With Viv out and Martin and Danny busy transporting Adisa Teno, she knew there was no one else he could call in for a new case. Besides, if she didn't answer her home phone he'd try her cell, and there was really no good excuse why she wouldn't answer that phone either seeing as she carried it around with her everywhere; it was a necessity of the job.

"Hey Jack, please don't tell me you need me at the office. I'm _really _tired and I just want to go to-,"

"Sam, just listen. Come to Memorial hospital as soon as possible. Okay?"

"What happened? Is Viv okay?" Her thoughts were jumbled as she though of the colleague and friend. Jack had called her to inform her that everything went well, but there was always the possibility of complications arising.

"Just get down here, I'll explain when you arrive," Jack said.

"Wait, Jack tell me-," but he had already hung up.

Samantha looked around frantically in search of Jack. The nurse down at the reception area had told her she should go to the third floor, but she couldn't see her boss anywhere. She went to the nurse's station where an elderly woman was sitting, reading some kind of report.

"Excuse me, I am looking for a man, 42, about my height, dark hair? He's with the FBI. Have you seen him?" She spoke very fast.

"Yeah, Jack Malone, right?" Samantha nodded, "Just go down the corridor, he's near the operation theatre."

Operation theatre? That didn't sound good. 'Oh God, I hope Viv's all right,' She thought frantically.

Samantha ran down the long white corridor, horrible thoughts swirling around her head. She saw Jack standing near a glass door, a styrofoam cup of coffee in his hands, his face pale and worn.

"Jack," she called as she ran toward him. He raised his head at the sound of her voice. His eyes were red, whether from tears of exhaustion she couldn't tell, but it was obvious that he was scared.

"What happened? Why didn't you tell me on the phone?" Samantha asked, finally coming to a halt.

Jack turned to his left and as she followed his line of sight she saw Danny sitting on a chair in a waiting area. His face was pale, his eyes red and swollen – it was obvious that he had been crying – and there was a bandage covering his upper left arm. She hurried towards him and he got up to face her.

"Danny, what happened? Are you OK?" She was scared now.

"I'm fine. It was a through and through," He added as she looked at his arm quizzically.

She looked at his face with a horrorstruck expression on her face. "You were shot? But you and Martin were just-" Her eyes widened with shock. Martin. He wasn't here.

"Martin... where's Martin... where... Oh my God Danny..." She felt tears creep up her eyes. He couldn't be dead. He just couldn't be. She never had the time to explain herself, tell him why she did what she did... she didn't even say goodbye.

Danny looked at her and grabbed her upper arms. "He's not dead."

Relief washed over her face. "But where is he?" She was still concerned.

Danny hesitated. "Tell me," She demanded.

"Well... he, he was shot.

"Twice."

Samantha closed her eyes. Tears were streaming down her face. She just couldn't believe it.

"He's still in surgery, but... I guess... " Danny couldn't go on.

She opened her eyes and looked at him. "It doesn't look too good right now." She finished his sentence. Danny just nodded. He too was crying. She stepped forward and he pulled her close, hugging her tightly as she rested her head on his shoulder and started sobbing.

_**A/N:**_ You see, Martin didn't die. I wouldn't have let him die though, …at least not now.

_Edited 08/11/09_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Jack was pacing the floor; he had been doing it for the last two and a half hours. Danny sat in one of the chairs, his head resting against the wall, eyes closed. Sam lay down on two chairs, staring into space.

After she had calmed down a little bit, Danny had told her to try and get some sleep. She had protested, but as he was very stubborn she obeyed. She lay down on the hard and uncomfortable plastic chairs as Danny covered her with his suit jacket. He had watched her to make sure she was trying to rest, so she had closed her eyes.

Horrible thoughts of Martin dead in a car full of bullet holes – on her insistence, Danny had told her what had happened – had crossed her mind as soon as her eyes fell closed, so she had opened them again. Danny had has his eyes closed; he wasn't asleep, but at least he had stopped watching her.

So now she was lying there, her eyes red and swollen, her hair messy and her thoughts fixed on Martin. She thought about their time together during the past ten month. She thought about their first night together, how new everything had been but at the same time how familiar. She thought about Colleen's case and how great Martin had been; worrying about her, taking care of her and helping her in every way he could. She thought about the Christmas party in the office and the many evenings and nights they spent together in one of their apartments.

But suddenly it hit her: She was only thinking about the good times, not about the many fights they had because Martin wanted to tell the others about their relationship. She didn't even think about the fact that they had broken up- no, the fact that _he _had broken up with _her_.

Just the thought of that morning hurt. It had been embarrassing how he had gone about it, right there, in the office. And then Jack reprimanded her, telling her to keep it out of the office. But she could understand why he had ended things. She never wanted to talk about their relationship, never went out to restaurants or other public places with him, she didn't even touch him while they were outside of their apartments.

He had been very patient with her, but she swore herself that if he woke up – no, she couldn't think like that – _when_ he woke up, this would be a thing of the past.

Lying here, thinking about the possibility of loosing him, drove her crazy. She couldn't live without him anymore. He was the first one who really cared about her, who really loved her.

And she loved him.

She loved him? Never before had she thought about falling in love with him. In all of the ten months together it had never even crossed her mind. Not once. But now, as she thought about it, she knew that it was true. Maybe she wasn't ready to tell him yet, but because _she_ knew it, she was sure that deep down _he_ would know it. Because he knew her.

_**A/N:**_ Sorry it's short, but I wanted to give some insight into Sam's thoughts about Martin and their relationship. Hope you liked it.

Oh, too much fluff? Or do you want more? Tell me! I'm happy to hear your thoughts and ideas for the story.

_Edited 08/11/09_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: **_Again, thank you sooo much for your great reviews! It really makes my day if I get home from school (yeah, school's still in session over here) and get to read your reviews. You make me really really happy (and you make me laugh. Thanks for wanting me to write the seasons premiere, but I think Jerry Bruckheimer's going to do a better job :))

You said you liked fluff, so I'm going to write more fluff (that is if Martin and Sam get to talk to each other).

_Dedicated to:berta101, missusmesser, bdoney, fairygurl621 and lapmal_

**Chapter 4**

An anxious hour of waiting later Sam was still lying on the chairs, Danny was sitting with his eyes closed and Jack was pacing the floor. All of them were growing more and more worried with every minute that passed. Danny finally opened his eyes to look around. When he saw that Samantha was awake he said "Hey," with a small, reassuring smile.

"Hey," she replied, trying to force a smile as well. The fear in her eyes betrayed her true feelings.

Danny got up and walked over to her, sitting on the chair next to hers and stroking her back with his hand. "Everything will be OK," he assured her. "Martin's strong. I'm sure he will be fine."

Samantha looked at him in disbelief. "How can you say that? How can you be so sure"

"Because...," Danny hesitated. He thought about the things Martin had told him to tell the others. But the pleading look in Samantha's eyes prevented him from saying anything. What she needed right know was hope, not Martin's goodbye. He could still tell her if Martin really... The thought made him shiver. He couldn't let himself think it. Martin would be OK. He had to be. For Sam. "Because I know he would never leave you," he finally managed to finish his sentence.

Fresh tears started filling Samantha's eyes, but he knew hearing this had given her hope. Maybe it was just a tiny bit, but right now she needed everything that he could manage to give to her.

Danny turned at the sound of footsteps coming towards the waiting area and stopping there. When he looked up he saw a doctor standing in front of him. He got up immediately, nearly knocked over by Sam who had shot up from her lying position in a second. Jack quickly walked over to join them.

"Are you here for Martin Fitzgerald?" The doctor asked.

"Yes. How is he?" Danny asked quickly. Samantha seemed to be too scared to speak. She was just staring at the man in front of her, preparing herself for the worst.

"Are you related to him?"

"No, but I don't think that's important right now, just tell us-" Danny started impatiently.

"I'm sorry but it is important. I'm sorry but I'm only allowed to tell his family about his condition." The doctor replied.

Danny was getting extremely angry now. He pointed a finger at the doctor's chest and said through clenched teeth "Listen, if you don't tell us how Martin is immediately I'm going to break your fucking-"

Jack stepped between the two of them, shooting Danny a warning glance. He then turned to face the doctor and said "Doctor, we're with the FBI. We need to know how he is, it's important to solve our case."

The doctor didn't seem to believe Jack, so he got his badge out and showed it to him. "Are you going to tell us now? Or do you want to call the office to confirm our story?" Jack barely managed to control his emotions.

Finally the doctor seemed to be convinced, he actually he looked slightly scared. "Well, we managed to remove the bullets, but they've done severe damage. The one in his chest luckily missed his lung and heart, but it hit an artery and he lost a lot of blood. The bullet which hit his stomach hit his spleen and we had to remove it. He will be able to live without it, what's worse is that it also went through his liver. We also had to remove a part of it."

Jack looked stunned, the emotion mirrored on Danny's face, but Samantha was hopeful.

"So, he's okay? Can we go see him?"

Her face dropped rapidly as she saw the expression on his face. "Well, as I just told you, he lost a lot of blood and he flatlined three times on the way to the hospital and while in the ER. The shocking plus the surgery would have been a huge strain on his body if he hadn't been shot and with two bullets hitting him... "

"Wait, you're not telling me that he's... I mean he didn't... He's- he's still alive, isn't he?" Samantha's voice cracked. No. It couldn't be true. Martin was still alive.

"He's not dead." Danny and Jack sighed with relief, but Samantha still watched the doctor closely. She knew he hadn't told them everything yet.

"But?"

"Well... he's in a coma." Jack covered his face with his hands and Danny looked stunned. Samantha still stared at the doctor.

"But he will wake up? I mean he... he probably wakes up soon and then everything will be-"

"I'm sorry to shatter your hopes but it's a little bit more difficult than that. With the strain on his body from the various injuries and his many heart failures, it is hard to tell if he will wake up again. As it stands, the next 24 hours are crucial. Should he not wake up during that time it is unlikely that he ever will. Quite possibly, his condition will deteriorate and his heart will fail again. After what he's been through, that would be fatal. I'm very sorry."

While the doctor spoke, Samantha desperately tried to stay positive. The whole medical stuff he had explained... She didn't know anything about that. So it couldn't destroy her hopes. But now, hearing that it was still possible, no, not just possible, that it was _likely_ that Martin wouldn't make it through the night was just too much.

Samantha stumbled backwards, grabbing the wall for support and collapsing on a chair. She buried her face in her hands, unable to face the doctor or the sterile hospital atmosphere any longer. When she felt a hand on her knee she looked up to find Danny kneeling down in front of her.

There was no expression on her face. He watched her closely, searching for any signs of pain or fear or at least any emotion, but there was nothing. Just emptiness.

When she spoke, her voice was barely a whisper. "You said he wouldn't leave me. But now it looks like he _is_ leaving me." Danny wanted to say something, but she interrupted him. "And you know what? I understand that he doesn't want to be with me. My whole life is a mess, it's totally screwed up. His life was great, but then I ruined everything. Now he's lying in there, probably dying, and it's all my fault."

Danny didn't know what to say. She really seemed to believe what she had just said.

"It's _not_ your fault that Martin was shot. Don't you dare say that. And I _know_ he would never leave you."

Sam snorted. "Oh, really? Didn't you hear what the doctor just said?"

"I heard him, but he didn't say that Martin will die. He's in critical condition, but he still has a chance. Don't give up on him. Because he didn't give up on you either."

Sam looked at him quizzically.

"He loves you. He told me right before the ambulance arrived. He wanted you to know. But I told him to tell you himself. And he will. I know he will."

At first Danny thought she would laugh at him because she didn't seem to believe a word of what he'd just told her. But then, as she slowly began to realize that he wouldn't just make something like this up, tears started rolling down her face. "Oh God, Danny... I'm... I'm so sorry... I don't know what's wrong with me... I just... " Her voice cracked.

"Hey there's nothing to be sorry about." When she started sobbing he leaned forward and hugged her tightly, rubbing her back and murmuring "Shhh, it's okay... it's okay..."

Finally, her sobs turned to sniffles and then stopped altogether. Looking up, she saw the doctor standing several feet away, still conversing with Jack. Sam got up and walked over to him.

"Can we go see him?"

"Well... I'm sorry to tell you but..." The doctor hesitated. He had seen her breakdown and didn't know how to tell her. "You're not family so..."

"What do you mean? Only his family is allowed to see him?"

"Yes."

"Who invented the damn rules in this fucking hospital!" Sam stormed.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you in."

"His family lives in D.C., they won't manage to be here anytime soon, and you said it's possible that he won't make it through the night! You want him to die alone!" She was getting more and more angry.

"There are rules in this hospital, no matter if you like them or not. And I am not allowed to break the rules. I am sorry." He turned to leave, but Samantha stopped him.

"Wait-" She didn't really know what else she could say to convince him to let her go and see Martin. But suddenly an idea came to her mind. The doctor waited for her to continue.

"I am his fiancée. Is that close enough?"

Jack looked at her in shock. Danny didn't know what to think. He knew they had been together for several months now, and obviously they loved each other, but none of them had ever mentioned being engaged.

The doctor was surprised. "Oh, I'm sorry, I... I didn't know. Of course you can go see him. Follow me. I'll take you to his room."

Samantha turned around to look at Danny. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it, saying "Tell us when he wakes up. We'll be here."

When she turned around she saw Jack smiling. "Yeah, we will be here if you need us." He gave her a quick hug, something she wasn't expecting. In reality, he wanted to ask her thousands of questions. Had she told the doctor the truth about her and Martin being engaged? He hadn't suspected their relationship to be that serious. But he knew it wasn't the right moment to ask about it.

Finally Samantha turned around and followed the doctor down the corridor. They passed several doors, endless white walls and a few nurses, all looking at her with sympathy. The thoughts in her mind were spinning madly. She didn't know what to expect. She didn't know how to react if she saw him lying there, helpless. She didn't know-

"We're here." She stopped thinking about all the horrible possibilities and tried to focus on what the doctor was saying. "I think I don't need to tell you that he needs all the rest possible. I know you want him to wake up, but don't try to force him. He has to wake up on his own. OK?"

Samantha just nodded. She couldn't speak. Her throat was dry. She put one hand on the door handle, suddenly unsure if she should go in. What if he really died while she was in there? She didn't know if she could stand it. The doctor gave her a reassuring nod, then left. She was alone now.

Slowly, she pushed the door handle down, stepping into the dimly lit room.

_**A/N: **_There were a few passages about the others not being allowed to see Martin. I don't know if it's really like that in American hospitals, but in Germany there are such rules. Even if it's not true I hope it doesn't detract from the story too much.

_Edited 08/11/09_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: **_Thanks for telling me about hospital rules in your countries. (I was surprised to hear I even have readers in France. Wow!) And for liking my story so much! I mean, it's my first try, but I'm glad to hear you like it.

I corrected the mistakes you pointed out; thanks for telling me, I want to know if I make mistakes so I can do better next time!

I am trying to add more fluff, I hope I'm succeeding... I think I already made enough of you cry – I didn't expect to get so much positive reactions (well, I guess crying is more of a negative reaction, but you know what I mean) to my first story. Whoohoo! Thanx, thanx, thanx!

_Dedicated to: berta 101, fairygurl621, bdoney, lapmal, freitazal, missusmesser and csigirlie156, Muzzy-Olorea_

**Chapter 5**

At first she couldn't see anything. In the corridor there had been bright neon lights, but Martin's room was only dimly lit by a small lamp in the corner. She carefully closed the door, trying not to make too much noise. It was stupid, she knew he wouldn't wake up from the sound of the door closing, but nevertheless she didn't want to disturb the silence. There seemed to be this unspoken rule which forbid any noise in the ICU.

When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she recognized Martin's features on the bed. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as she saw all the wires connected to his body, the IV line in his arm and the beeping heart monitor beside his bed. He looked so weak. Never before had she seen him like this. Of course he had been weak before. She had seen him worried about cases, sometimes even crying, and his aunt being missing had really gotten to him, but this was different. He looked so... _broken._

Slowly she stepped towards the bed, stopping right in front of it. As she looked down on him she could see that his face was pale, but at the same time held a somehow peaceful expression. Not knowing what to do she slowly reached down, touching the back of his hand with her fingertips. "Hey," she whispered.

The only thing sign that he was still alive was the steady rise and fall of his chest. He didn't react to her touch. No movement, no twisting of his face, nothing. Tears started rolling down her face. Maybe he would die tonight but there was nothing she could do to help him. She just wanted to run out of the room and cry, but a voice in her head prevented her from doing so.

'There _is_ one thing you can do for him. Just stay here. Stay with him, show him you're here with him, show him he's not alone.'

It was true. He didn't need a doctor right now, even a doctor couldn't help him. What he needed was someone who cared about him. Someone who loved him.

'And I am that special someone?' She wondered. Deep down she knew the answer. Yes, she was. Danny had told her Martin wanted her to know that he loved her. So she would stay with him tonight, even all of tomorrow if it was necessary. No one could get her out of this room until he woke up. No one.

Samantha grabbed a chair and pulled it closer to his bed. She covered his hand which was lying on the white sheet with her own, trying to show him she was there. His hand was warm and soft, just like it had always been. She remembered the many times he had touched her with this hand, the times he had caressed her skin and the thought of the softness of his touch was enough to make her shiver.

But suddenly regret flooded her mind as she thought about the many times she had told him off, not wanting to let the others know about their relationship. She knew that her fear of being the topic of the office gossip had ruined everything between the two of them. He didn't want to hide it any longer, he wanted to have a serious relationship, not just someone he slept with. It was painful to put it that way, as she had once described their relationship as just sleeping together. Afterwards, Martin had barely talked to her anymore, and then he just broke up with her that fateful morning in the office.

But none of this mattered right now. It was in the past. When he woke up everything would change. _She _would change it.

She didn't listen to the nagging voice in the back of her mind saying, 'That is _if _he wakes up.' Instead, she just started talking. "You're gonna be okay Martin. I'm here now. And I'm not going to leave you. I'm staying with you until you wake up." She didn't know if he could hear her, but it didn't matter. She had to tell him.

"I love you."

_**A/N:**_ I know, I know, it's very short, sorry 'bout that. Next chapter will be longer, I promise.

_Edited 08/11/09_


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N:**_ So, here's chapter 6. It's longer than the last one, as I promised. I used a few terms which are used in German (especially near the beginning); I don't know if it's possible to use those in English. If not, tell me, and I'll correct it.

_Dedicated to: missusmesser (I am really, really sorry for making you cry al__l the time, I'll try and add some lighter moments :)), rabbitmonkey (maybe you'll actually get to read about his death, who knows?), Rose Ray (where did you learn German? School?), SusanWATfan, berta 101, higherbeingfriendsfan (yeah, I think I've got too much time to write stories, maybe I should go out and get some friends ;)), bdoney (I believe that people in a coma still recognize their surroundings, so I thought about maybe writing a chapter from Martin's point of view), lapmal (I'll try to keep him alive) and fairygurl 621_

**Chapter 6 **

"Did you know about this?"

The question was unexpected. Danny had been deep in thought when Jack spoke, but the words made him look up. His boss was standing there, coffee in hand and staring at him with an accusing look. The last half hour since Samantha had left Jack had been pacing along the corridor restlessly. It seemed that he had finally decided to just give voice to what was bothering him the whole time.

Danny didn't know exactly what he was asking. Jack had posed his question like he was merely picking up from a lull in conversation, but seeing as no one had said anything for the last thirty minutes, the younger man just shot him a questioning glance. "What do you mean 'Did you know about this'? Did I know about what?"

Jack looked like he was rethinking the question. Obviously he had thought Danny would catch up to what he was saying immediately. "Did you know about...," he hesitated, "... about Sam. And Martin. Being engaged."

Seeing the look on Danny's face he quickly added, "You know, I was just wondering about it. It surprised me hearing Samantha say she was his fiancée."

Danny didn't quite believe that Jack was merely curious. He seemed extremely shocked at the thought of them being engaged. "I didn't know about it either. But I guess it's possible, I mean, they have been dating for... what is it now, ten months?"

Jack was stunned. He had learned about their relationship only a few weeks ago. Of course they had been dating before, but ten months? He tried not to look too envious or angry and just said, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

He turned around and started pacing again.

Ten months. Ten months.

_Ten month__s!_

The thought just wouldn't leave his mind. Ten months – of course it was possible that Martin had proposed. Samantha had been very happy during the last few months. Happier than he had ever seen her, in fact.

He was glad that she had been doing better. She had to go through a lot in the last few years. And now it seemed like she was finally happy. He was relieved, but at the same time... jealous.

Somehow he had always hoped that when his divorce was through, they could get back together. He had hoped that he would be the man who made her happy, the man who brought that wonderful smile to her face.

But as he thought about it rationally, it dawned upon him that he could have _never_ been the man to make her really happy. Of course, he was divorced now, so he was free to be with her, but there were still rules which forbid relationships between a supervisor and one of his agents within the FBI. They would have never been able to be together in public.

So what Samantha really needed was a man who cared about her, a man who was there for her whenever she was living through bad times and needed someone to take care of her, even if she was reluctant to accept any help. What she needed was a man who sincerely loved her.

What she needed was a man like Martin.

Martin could giver her what he, Jack, couldn't. What he would never be able to. He prayed that Martin would be okay, because he wasn't sure that, if Martin died, Samantha would ever recover from the loss

Samantha sat on her chair, her head resting on her arms. She had been sitting there for at least one hour, watching Martin as he slept (or whatever you would call it if someone's in a coma), when she finally got too tired to stay upright. All the exhaustion from worrying about Martin and crying about what could possibly happen came crashing down on her.

So now she was lying on the white sheet, her head resting on Martin's arm, never loosing contact. She thought that, if she would keep touching him, he would know she was there.

And, if she was being truthful, she didn't want to stop feeling the warmth of his skin, fearing that she would maybe never again be able to. Her eyes were open, she didn't try to sleep because she knew she wouldn't be able to. No matter how exhausted she was, until Martin woke up, she wouldn't sleep.

Suddenly she thought she felt a small twitch. Her head shot up and she stared at his face. "Martin?"

Nothing.

"Martin, can you hear me?

"Martin."

Nothing. Just a trick her tired mind had played on her.

She lay down again, waiting.

Waiting for Martin to wake up.

"Jack?"

"Yeah."

"Did you call Martin's parents to tell them what happened?"

Jack turned around to look at Danny. The younger agent looked extremely pale, and dark circles had formed under his eyes. He hadn't slept since he had arrived at the hospital, meaning he had been awake for nearly 24 hours now. Jack was concerned. Danny had also been hurt in the shooting, even if he wasn't showing any outward signs of pain or discomfort. It had been a through and through, but nevertheless it could be a dangerous injury if not properly taken care of. He had to rest, or at least eat something.

"I called his father's office after you phoned me, but I only reached his secretary. I left a message, telling him to call me ASAP."

"He didn't call yet?"

"No."

Danny looked at his watch. 3.18 a.m. He looked at Jack again. "Maybe I should go call him. I mean you don't like each other very much, and he doesn't seem to want to talk to you. But he needs to know what happened." He got up slowly, but a sharp pain rose in his arm. His face twisted in pain and he touched the dressing on his left arm.

Jack quickly stepped towards him, putting a hand on his shoulder. When Danny looked up he saw deep concern etched on his boss's face.

"I'm okay. Really."

Jack didn't believe him. "I know you're not okay. You were shot, you didn't sleep since last night and you didn't eat anything. If you don't stay where you are I am going to call a nurse and tell her to sedate you so that you can get some rest."

Danny was surprised to hear how determined Jack's voice sounded, but at the same time he got angry. Was Jack seriously trying to tell him what to do? "Listen, I'm really okay. I don't need to sleep, or eat, or anything. I'm fine. What I really need to do right now is to call Martin's parents and tell them their son was shot and that he might quite possibly die tonight." His voice grew angry. "So would you please let go of me?"

"No." Danny stared at him.

"Danny, I know how you're feeling right now, just-"

"You have no fucking idea of how I'm feeling!" Danny yelled. As Jack neither moved, nor took his hand away from Danny's arm, he only grew more enraged. "So don't give me this bullshit now! I don't need your pity!"

He stepped back so Jack's hand finally left its position on his right shoulder. "Just leave me alone!"

Jack didn't even flinch. He listened to everything Danny hurled at him without reacting. Instead he just stepped forward, again putting his hand on Danny's arm and saying "Danny."

"Fuck off!" Tears started streaming down Danny's face. He wasn't able to control his emotions any longer. Everything was just too much. Jack was right, and he knew it, but he didn't want be rational right now, he didn't want to listen. All he wanted to do was punch something, to alleviate some of the tension and fear that was gnawing at him.

He nearly collapsed, only held upright by Jack who caught him and dragged him to a nearby chair. Tears rushed down his cheeks, wetting the collar of his shirt, but he didn't care. Neither did he care that he was completely breaking down in front of his boss and friend. He let out all the emotions which he had bottled up the whole time he had been trapped in the waiting area. And Jack seemed to understand. He just sat there and held him until the sobs finally stopped.

"It's all my fault." Danny finally managed to get out. "I distracted him when we were standing at the traffic light. If I hadn't we would've seen these guys right away and Martin would not have been shot." His voice cracked.

"Danny, it's not your fault. It is no one's fault. You couldn't help him."

"But I should've at least tried-"

"No. Don't even go there. I know how you're feeling and that you're thinking it's all your fault. I know, because I've been in this situation before." Danny looked at him with a questioning look in his eyes. "During my time in the army one of my comrades was killed on a mission. I tried to take the blame for what happened because I thought that had I made a different choice at any moment, things would have ended differently. It nearly broke me. This wasn't your fault. You could've done nothing to change it, OK?"

Danny nodded. Jack was right. Accusations wouldn't help Martin. He had to be strong. "But what about his parents?" They still didn't know about Martin's condition.

"I'm going to call them. You just stay here. I guess you won't be able to sleep, but at least try."

As Jack got up and walked down the corridor, Danny finally lay down and closed his eyes, trying to get rid of the pictures which kept replaying in his mind.

_**A/N:**_ One more chapter done. I don't quite know how long this story will be, but I'm slowly running out of ideas. So either I am going to end it soon, or maybe someone had any suggestions about how to go on? Your choice! Review!

Oh, and I think I am going to let you wait a little bit till I post chapter 7... see how many reviews I get :) No, I'm kidding, I hate when people do that. I have some stuff to do, so I don't know when I'll have the time to write. I hope it won't be too long.

_Edited 08/11/09_


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N:**_ So, I finally finished the next chapter. Sorry for making you wait so long, but I wanted to make you suffer _*very evil grin*_ No, I'm kidding; I was busy (and very very tired ;))

If this chapter makes anyone cry or scream or destroy anything, I'm really sorry. But I had to make him suffer, or it would not have been realistic.

I better stop talking now, you'll see what I'm talking about.

_Dedicated to :berta 101 (mmhh, good idea, __I'll think about it ;)), csigirlie156 (sorry if I allowed you to become too bored (and whatever it involved)), SusanWATfan (Thanks, I didn't know if it was realistic, but I tried to get into Danny's head and feelings in a situation like this), missusmesser (I like the smoke signals, maybe you should try it...) higherbeingfriendsfan (yeah, I guess deep down I have this little anti-Jack side either, and it showed its nasty face in the last chapter ;)), Zonya (it was sooo cute seeing Danny cry in the episode 'Clare de Lune', here you don't see him, but at least you can try to imagine it), bdoney (Ok, this chapter is Martin's POV), lapmal (there will be more D/M in it), rabbitmonkey (Thanks, trying to be as realistic as possible for a fanfic), fairygurl621 (mmh, maybe, maybe not... you'll have to wait and see), thebondgirl (I hope I was able to help you, and I guess you'll see your ideas soon) and itsideout389 (I said earlier that I didn't actually watch Endgame, only read the end, so I don't know too much about the plot. My story will probably focus on the relationships M/S D/M, but thanks for letting me know some of your ideas)._

**Chapter 7**

Pain exploded in his body. It felt like millions of red-hot needles digging into his flesh and tearing up his skin. Never before had he felt such horrible pain. Only a second ago there had been millions of thoughts in his mind, spinning like mad, and now everything was gone, making room for the pain to spread in his head.

And it did. It flooded through his body and filled his mind. He had never quite believed people claiming they'd rather die or wished they were dead in the face of pain. Of course there were some kinds of pain he couldn't imagine because he had never actually felt them. But he just couldn't believe that there was something so horrible that you would rather die than continue to feel the pain.

Now he understood completely. Although he desperately tried to think about anything but the burning sensation in his upper body he failed miserably. It seemed like every positive thought had been swamped out of his head the moment the bullets hit his skin.

He wanted to die. He wanted this pain to just be over, to stop, even if it meant dying right here, right now. It was just too much.

Then the pain faded away. The burning nearly stopped and his mind relaxed slightly. Being able to think clearly again, he realized that this horrible pain had been caused by the bullets penetrating his body, meaning that it had only lasted a split second.

To him it had been an eternity. An eternity filled with pain and sorrow. But it was over. The pain didn't fully go away, of course it didn't, but compared to what he'd been feeling only mere seconds ago, it was heaven.

Wait, it was heaven?

Maybe he had been wrong, maybe the pain hadn't gone away because the bullets had stopped hitting him, maybe he was just...

'That is completely insane. You are not dead. You don't feel pain when you're dead... or do you?' How could he know? He had never been dead or anywhere close to it, nor had anyone else who was still able to tell you how it felt like. Again, the thoughts in his mind started spinning like mad as he was trying to figure out whether or not he was dead.

There was only one way how he could find out. He had to open his eyes and see. Very slowly he forced his eyes open. Well, opened would be said too much, because he only managed to create a small slice, just wide enough to get a glimpse of his surroundings.

That was if he had been able to see anything at all. The world around him was blurred and everything was lit with a bright white light.

Was it heaven?

Oh no, obviously it wasn't. As his eyes got used to the light (which was caused by the street lights standing around the car), he recognized the outlines of people, cars and buildings. His head hurt like mad, even the tiny movement of opening his eyes had caused so much pain. And as he felt no need for causing himself more pain than he already felt, he closed his eyes again.

Immediately, everything turned black. The pain slowly faded away, getting weaker and weaker, and finally it stopped.

Then he passed out.

He awoke some time later, the pain returning with full force. For a few seconds it was so intense that he thought (and hoped) he would pass out again. But he didn't. Instead, the pain lost some of its power and his head became a bit clearer.

He tried to concentrate on his surroundings. When he was shot there was barely a sound audible (yeah, well, except for the shot of course), but now the area was filled with sound. Screams, people talking, the distant sound of sirens. Everything assailed him, nearly splitting his eardrums. After the silence it sounded like an airplane was taking off right next to him.

When his ears finally managed to organize the sounds he recognized a voice. It sounded familiar, but his brain had too much to deal with and it took him a while to create a face matching the voice. Finally, he succeeded.

Danny.

He wanted to speak, ask Danny if he was okay, ask him what had happened, where he was, but nothing happened. Not even the simple movement of opening his eyes was possible. But he had to wake up. Maybe he would never get a chance to talk to him again. Although he didn't know the whole impact of his wounds, he felt it was bad. Really bad.

It was important to talk to Danny. There were so many things he needed people to know. He had somehow already accepted the fact that he would die and now he prepared himself for saying goodbye. To Danny, Jack, Viv, his family... to Sam.

Oh God, Sam. He knew that he was the one who had broken up with her, but there was so much left unsaid between them that she needed to know about. So many things he needed to tell her. He hadn't wanted to end everything like he did, he had wanted to talk to her and explain everything. When she had come into the bullpen that morning it just slipped out, and he had been so cold toward her.

He had been hurt. _She_ had hurt him. But there was still so many things left unsaid. Important things. Things like the fact that he loved her. Maybe she knew, he felt it must have been quite obvious. But he wanted to tell her. Something like this had to be said. It just had to be.

And now he was running out of time.

Even if it wasn't possible to talk to Sam, at least he had to tell Danny. Danny was the only person he really trusted to tell Sam what she needed to know, because he was the only person who really understood. Understood him, understood Sam, understood about their relationship.

With all the power he had left, he opened his eyes. He wanted to speak up to attract Danny's attention, but he was already looking at him. Martin heard him say his name and ask how he felt. His throat was extremely dry and he had to cough before he managed to croak, "Like shit."

When he got a small smile from Danny he returned it, asking what happened. He remembered the shots, but there wasn't much else left in his mind. As Danny explained their situation something hit him: Danny had also been in the line of fire. "You okay?" He managed to ask, but the talking made his throat burn like fire and he coughed again. It was important to stay awake now, but it was really hard. Danny assured him that he was okay and kept telling him to stay conscious.

He was feeling so cold. Although the pain made his body burn, he couldn't feel his arms or legs at all. Everything was numb. He told Danny and his partner ordered someone to get a blanket, then fixed him with a concerned stare. Martin wanted to speak and tell Danny what he needed to, but suddenly his face vanished out of sight. Why did he go away? He needed to talk to him!

Desperately he grabbed Danny's arm and said "Don't leave me." Danny came back and reassured him. His voice and words were comforting, and despite the situation he relaxed a bit. Still, he needed to talk to him.

"Danny?"

"Yeah, partner?"

"Could you... could you please tell... tell Sam that..." It was hard to speak. His voice was croaky and he only managed a whisper, "I'm sorry... for everything that happened. I didn't mean to hurt her. I never meant to... Just tell her that I'm sorry and that... that I..." He needed to say it, but he just couldn't. His body was just too weak, but that wasn't the only reason. As he spoke the words it hit him that he would probably never see Samantha's face again.

Danny took matters out of his hands. "That you love her?" He asked. Martin managed to nod. Danny was on the verge of tears, he could hear it in his voice. It was hard to keep on talking, especially upon hearing that Danny was so worried.

"Yeah, tell her that I love her. Will you?" When Danny affirmed that he would tell her, he went on. "And tell Jack that he was a great boss, and tell Viv that it was an honor to meet her... and you know that you're my best friend and the best partner I've ever had..."

He wanted to go on, say everything that was on his mind, tell Danny everything he needed to know, but he interrupted him. "Hey man, you're not going anywhere, so don't you dare and say goodbye to me. I won't ever let my partner die, especially not like this, you understand?" While saying this he took hold of Martin's hand and squeezed. The simple touch and those words managed to do what nothing else could've achieved: He had hope again.

'Maybe this isn't the end,' He thought, 'Maybe there's still hope.'

The EMTs arrived, interrupting his thoughts as they started asking him questions and treating to his wounds. They took him to the ambulance, and he thought that Danny would come back now. He had to make room for the EMTs, now he could come back.

But he didn't. "Danny." He was shocked at hearing how weak the word sounded upon coming out of his mouth. It sounded so desperate and lost. But he didn't really care. He needed Danny to come back. "Danny." Finally, he heard Danny coming into the ambulance and sitting next to him. "Danny."

"Yeah, I'm here partner. You're gonna be okay, and when you get out of hospital you're gonna tell Jack and Viv and Sam what you told me yourself. Understand?" He just nodded. Danny had managed to give him some hope, but it quickly faded away again.

He was so cold. Everything was cold now. His arms, legs, his body... The only warmth left was the touch of Danny's hand.

He closed his eyes, trying to consume the warmth Danny gave him. But it didn't help. Slowly, the cold crept up. Then it reached his heart.

Now all the warmth was gone.

Everything was gone.

_**A/N: **_I know, not a very good point to end it, but I wanted to update today (while I'm writing, it's 10.16 p.m.). I would stay up longer to finish it, but I have to go to school tomorrow, so... sorry. I'll write more of Martin's POV, I guess it will be out Friday or Saturday. 'Til then! Review!

_Edited 08/11/09_


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N:**_ You had to wait such a long time for chapter 7 so I'm trying to make up for it by posting chapter 8 now and chapter 9 will probably be out sometime tomorrow.

_Dedicated to: csigirlie156 (glad it wasn't too bad, __I won't make you wait for so long again), missusmesser (it was cloudy the last few days, guess I missed them ;)), berta101 (another great idea, where do you get them from?), Rose Ray (I guess you don't live in America when you've been to Germany with school? I'm looking forward to reading some German, I wrote so much English I think I forget how to speak German :)), bdoney (this is another chapter from Martin's POV, but I don't know yet if I'll write another one or go back to Samantha/Danny/Jack) and higherbeingfriendsfan (glad you think I was able to show his pain, I'm not quite sure about this chapter, I've never been in such a situation, so read and tell me please!)_

**Chapter 8**

When the cold grabbed his heart, he knew it was over. His tight hold on Danny's hand loosened as he lost control over his body and even the last bit of warmth left him. He expected everything to turn black, because he guessed it was similar to passing out, but it didn't.

Instead, he saw a white light, first it was very small, then slowly it got bigger and brighter, until it was blinding him. It felt like he was flying, and only a second before he could reach the light, it vanished. Darkness surrounded him again, the pain returned and he could hear distant voices.

Part of his body wanted to jump up and punch whoever was responsible for what had just happened. He had been free of pain, free of sound, free of the mad spinning in his head. But he had been ripped out of this peaceful heaven.

Another part was so happy he just wanted to cry. If he had continued toward the light, he knew what would have happened. He would have never been able to talk to Samantha again. To see her face, hear her laugh, touch her soft skin. He would have left everything behind.

His feelings were torn, and these thoughts joined the various others that were already spinning madly in his mind. He thought he would go crazy. The swirl of thoughts was slowly turning into a pounding in his head that was intolerable. If he couldn't go back to the wonderful light he at least wanted to drift off into the peaceful darkness again. It was the only place where the thoughts stopped. And slowly, as though his body followed some sort of self-preservation instinct, the darkness fell.

But it wasn't as peaceful as it had been earlier. Through his dizziness, he could still hear sounds and voices and the darkness turned to light and back repeatedly, like someone kept turning on and off a lamp.

It drove him crazy. He started wishing that the light would return and just take him away. Funnily, he thought it did. He wasn't quite sure if he saw it the first time, because it was only a short and distant flicker. But he felt the same coldness he had felt earlier. The second time he definitely knew it was there. It didn't get nearly as close as it did the first time, but still it was there.

Anger started welling up inside of him. He didn't want to die, because he really wanted to see Samantha one last time before he went on, but this constant coming and going of life and death, of darkness and light, made him wish death would just come and take him away. At least he would get some peace.

The knowledge that he was walking on the edge of a cliff and could fall down every second without having any control was really getting to him. It was like balancing on a small rope, which was swinging dangerously with every movement he made.

Finally, the dizziness in his head grew and the darkness which surrounded him got more and more intense. He didn't really know where he was, but he guessed a doctor had given him some kind of medication. His mind wouldn't have shut itself down just like that and he was thankful to whoever had done something to help him along.

Darkness came and his mind slipped off into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

He didn't really know when he woke up again. Actually, he didn't really know if he woke up again. His mind slowly regained its usual level of awareness, but his body didn't react to the orders he sent. Although he desperately tried to do so, his eyes wouldn't open.

'Maybe I should just take it slow a little bit. I don't know how long I have been out of it and my body probably needs some time 'til it gets back to its usual strength.' He didn't quite like just laying there, not being able to see where he was, not knowing who or what was around him, not being able to do anything at all. Never had he been able to keep still for an extended period of time without doing anything. Now his body forced him to do so.

Finally, he accepted that there was no use in trying to keep on fighting, as his body didn't show the slightest sign of reacting. If he just rested and waited for a bit, maybe he would recover and get back his ability to move.

So he tried to concentrate onto his surroundings. Just because he wasn't able to see anything it didn't mean he had no other possibility to find out where he was.

He listened closely to everything that was audible.

A slow, continuous beeping. – Probably a heart monitor.

The quiet and regular dripping of liquid. – H was probably hooked up to an IV.

Distant, barely audible voices. – Nurses and doctors.

Then he tried to feel as much as possible without having to move.

He was lying on something soft. – Well, this wasn't too hard to figure out; of course he's be in a hospital bed.

Something cold and hard was attached to his arm and piercing his skin. - Probably the IV.

There were several things fixed to his chest, which he guessed were the connections of the heart monitor.

And last, there was something hard and very uncomfortable stuck up his nose, which he grudgingly had to admit made it much easier to breathe, so that was probably an oxygen line.

So he was in a hospital bed and room, connected to monitors and IVs. As the only voices he could hear were far away and barely audible, he guessed he was in the ICU. He knew the depressing silence was typical of this certain area of the hospital from previous visits.

Suddenly, he thought he could hear something else. Yeah, there it was again. Footsteps. They were coming near his room, then they stopped. He wondered whether someone would come in or not, but as nothing happened for several seconds, he thought the person had just gone by.

Again, he heard footsteps, this time leading away from his room, then the door opened. He wanted to hold his breath so he could hear every sound the person made and would therefore be able to figure out who it was, but as he had no control over his body, it didn't quite work. The door closed and he heard slow, hesitant footsteps approaching his bed.

It was a woman, he could tell from the sounds her shoes made. As the woman stopped next to his bed he felt a soft touch on the back of his hand.

It was Samantha.

He knew before he heard the whispered "Hey" she greeted him with. The tiny touch of her fingertips had been enough for him to figure it out. His heart started racing. Finally, she was here. He had spent the whole time worrying that he would never see her again. That he would pass away without being able to talk to her one last time. And now that she was finally here, he couldn't move.

He cursed his body for allowing no reaction to her presence; he wanted to jump up and hug her, explain to her why he had acted the way he had, tell her that he loved her. But he couldn't move.

She let go of his hand and he wanted to stop her, to not go away. He heard her sit down next to him. Then she took hold of his hand again. The simple touch made him shiver. It had been an eternity since he had last touched her, last caressed her soft skin, since he had last kissed her. Her hand holding his and caressing it softly made him relax and calm down, and he felt his mind slowly go dizzy.

But he didn't want to fall asleep now. If he couldn't talk to her, he wanted to at least hear what she had to say to him.

For a long time, she didn't say anything at all. Suddenly, she started talking. His mind wasn't fully able to register the words, but he knew that she was comforting him, telling him everything would be just fine.

Just as he thought his mind would fade away again, he heard her speak up one last time. He wasn't quite sure if she had really said it or if it had been something his sleepy mind had imagined. Maybe it was the medication or an illusion created by his desperate hope for her to return his feelings.

He didn't know what it was, and he wasn't in the right state to figure it out right now. But the warm and wonderful feeling that spread deep inside of him told him that it hadn't been his imagination. She had finally said the words he had so long been waiting for.

_**A/N: **_The end probably isn't any better than the last one was, but this is another late night chapter (10.00 p.m. – 11.45 p.m.). Sorry again, I'll try not to do it again.

As I already said, chapter nine is ready to go, I'm just waiting for the reviews!

_Edited 08/15/09_


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Next chapter done! This one I wrote at daylight, so maybe there will be a proper ending this time (I don't know yet, just wrote the beginning). Until now, it's Danny's POV, but I will write a bit of Martin's POV either. So everyone gets what he wants ;).

_Dedicated to: missusmesser (no need to pay me, but thanks. Here is Europe, Germany to be specific), csigirlie156 (as long as you don't want to put me through this meat grinder of yours, do as you please :)), berta101 (Thanks, means a lot to me that you like it so much), lapmal (just wnt back to S/D/J), higherbeingfriendsfan (I didn't know how to describe someone nearly dying, but I thought light and darkness would be best to do so) and Muzzy-Olorea (Thanks, really like to hear my English's quite good)_

**Chapter 9**

Danny was pacing up and down the corridor. The waiting drove him mad. Again, for the hundredth time, he looked at his watch. 3.12 p.m. Why did it take Martin so long to wake up? The doctor had said he had to wake up during the next 24 hours. Now 13 hours (not counting the almost 4 hours they had been waiting while Martin was in surgery) had already passed and nothing had happened.

He watched Jack, who was fast asleep on one of the chairs. At least one of them was able to sleep. His thoughts drifted off, and he remembered the conversation they had had when Jack returned from calling Martin's parents.

FLASHBACK

Danny is sitting with his head in his hands. As he hears footsteps getting closer he looks up to see Jack coming towards him. He wants to get up, but Jack motions to him to sit down again.

"What happened? Why did it take you so long?"

Jack looks at him with an angry expression. "I called his fathers office, but I only got to talk to his secretary again. I said it was really urgent, still she didn't tell me where he were, only that he wouldn't be at his office for several days. So I got really angry and told her that his son's been shot and that she should give me a goddamn number so I could call him. Turned out his parents are on a vacation and he told his secretary only to pass on the number if it was really important."

Danny is shocked as he hears this. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. His son's boss doesn't seem to be very important to him, even if he has to talk to him ASAP. But the secretary seemed pretty shocked to hear about Martin and gave me the number. I talked to Victor and he said they were on Hawaii, visiting an old friend. They are several hours away from the next airport, but they'll come over as soon as possible."

"But that's not soon enough, they should be here tonight!"

"I don't think they'll be, though."

END OF FLASHBACK

He still couldn't quite belive it. Martin was badly hurt and would possibly not make it through the night and his parents were taking a vacation. Jack had told him that Martin's mother nearly freaked out when she heard about Martin, but his father had stayed calm. 'Bastard' He thought, 'Your son's dying here and you prefer to be on a vacation."

He couldn't believe how someone could care so little about his children. It didn't seem like Martin really had the great childhood Danny always thought he had. Of course they had gotten to know each other during the nearly 2 years of working together, actually they had become good friends, but neither of them ever talked about their childhood. Danny always thought Martin had had a great life, getting everything he want, having parents who were there for him and cared about him, but the reality seemed to be quite different.

When he had first met Martin and Samantha told him that he was the son of the Deputy Director, Danny had thought of him being a rich, spoiled snob. Martin had proved this first impression as being completely wrong, but they still they had some problems to get around. Now was the first time that Danny got an impression of exactly how bad it had to be to be the son of the Deputy Director. There always were and always would be people who had prejudices. His whole life Martin had to fight to prove them wrong. And now he would maybe die and his father didn't really care.

Anger started welling up inside him and he just wanted to punch something, punch Martin's dad for making life so hard for him, punch all the people for having prejudices. He stopped pacing and threw Jack a short glance. All he wanted to do was to go and see Martin and he didn't think Jack would approve. But as his boss seemed to be fast asleep he quietly walked down the corridor to the door through which Samantha had gone earlier. He tried to get a look into the room, but it was rather dark and he couldn't see anything at all. So he slowly pushed the door open and entered into the room.

Samantha was lying on the bed next to Martin, apparently asleep. He didn't want to wake her up, as she really needed to sleep. So he carefully closed the door and tiptoed to the bed to look at Martin closely. His partner lay on the white sheet, extremely pale and dark circles around his eyes. Samantha's head rested on her arms, but her hand tightly held onto Martin's, as if she didn't want to loose contact.

They looked so peaceful, just laying there, holding hands. But he knew that the image was fake. The truth was that this maybe was there last night together and they weren't even able to talk. He knew what Martin still wanted to tell Samantha, and he was pretty sure that Samantha had to say several things herself. It nearly broke his heart, seeing them like this. They were together, but at the same time, they were apart.

"You have to wake up, partner," He whispered, trying not to wake Samantha "You hear that? You have to wake up.

"For her."

Martin woke up as he thought he heard the door closing. He wondered who would probably enter his room. Or had Samantha gone away? He started to panick. She couldn't just leave him!

Then he felt the touch of her soft and warm hand over his, and he relaxed. She hadn't left him. But who else would come into his room? A doctor?

He listened to the sounds and was pretty sure that this time a man had entered. The person stepped closer to his bed, but didn't say anything for several minutes. Then he heard Danny's voice telling him to wake up, to wake up for Samantha.

Anger started welling up inside him. Again, someone was in his room, someone he desperately wanted to talk to, but again his body kept limp. He cursed himself for being so weak, silently yelling to Danny that he was awake, that he could hear what he had said and that he wanted to wake up.

Nothing. Just nothing.

His body was so exhausted from doing nothing at all (obviously even thinking was too much) that he slowly drifted off into the darkness again.

A/N: OK, it didn't really become an end again (to be honest, I started writing in the morning, but now it's 11.28 p.m. again, so it's the third late night chapter), but I guess chapters shouldn't really have an end, except for the last one. So you'll probably have to wait.

I know I wrote at the end of chapter 6 that I am going to end it soon, but it doesn't really work. When I start to write a new chapter the ideas keep coming and I just have to write them down. So I don't really have a clue how long I will go on with this one, guess you'll see...


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: OK, guess you'll like this: I think we're slowly coming to an end now. But I think I have no other choice, because I really don't wanna make you cry or freak out or something... ;)

Here we go again.

_Dedicated to: csigirlie156 (I live in a small cow town either, so don't worry about it... like to hear I'm your hero!), berta101 (I'll end it soon, I promise. I really don't wanna make you cry), lapmal (nah, not yet. We still have two more weeks to go, then 6 weeks off), missusmesser (mmmh, maybe I should just continue with it for several month? But I guess you would freak out because Martin wouldn't wake up so soon... or should I just let him sleep... forever? (maniac laughter)), higherbeingfriendsfan (wanted to bring in a bit of Martin's childhood and how hard it had been with a father like that, because I don't really like the Deputy Director) and SusanWATfan (and another reader who can talk german! Where did you learn? School either? I guess you don't live in America then, because I dont' think they teach German in American schools)_

**Chapter 10**

Samantha awoke with a start as she heard a voice next to her. First she didn't really know where she were. But as she recognized the dark features of a hospital room around her she remembered: Martin was shot, and now she was waiting until he woke up. She didn't really remember falling asleep herself, but as the voice just woke her up, she obviously had fallen asleep.

Oh, yeah, the voice. That was why she was thinking all of this right now. So she turned around to see Danny standing behind her, looking extremely tired and worried. "I'm sorry." He said, "I didn't want to wake you up, I just came here to see if he's alright. You said you wanted to keep us posted but as you didn't turn up I thought I'd just... well... I'm sorry."

He seemed completely lost. Samantha was surprised he was still able to stay upright. As far as she knew he hadn't slept since they arrived at the hospital, and it didn't seem like he had since she went into Martin's room. How long had she actually been here? Or: How long had she actually slept?

"What time is it?" She asked. It surprised her how sleepy her voice sounded.

"It's 3.24 pm." Danny said after looking at his watch.

"What!" Suddenly she was wide-awake. The last time she had looked at her watch it had been around 4.00 a.m. She had slept nearly 11 ½ hours! But what shocked her even more was the fact that 17 hours had passed since Jack called her. And still Martin hadn't woken up. "Oh my God, Danny... " Her voice cracked as she turned to look at Martin. He looked even more pale and fragile than he had when she first saw him.

She put her hand on Martin's arm but flinched as she felt how cold it was. "Danny, why doesn't he wake up? He should be awake by now, the doctor said 24 hours and then..." She couldn't go on. Saying it aloud would make it definite, as there was no chance he could still wake up. Tears started streaming down her face as she watched Martin. She felt Danny's hand on her shoulder and turned around to look at him. He, too, was crying. Samantha got up and hugged Danny, sobbing silently as he put his arms around her back and pulled her close to him.

Danny didn't know what to do. He didn't know what he could say to comfort Samantha, because the truth was: There was nothing he could say to comfort her. He wanted to tell her that Martin would be alright, that he would wake up soon and that everything would be just fine. But he didn't know if Martin would be alright. Actaully, he didn't _believe_ that Martin would be alright.

How could he be? He was in this coma for more than 13 hours now. And with each hour that passed, the chances that he would wake up and recover fully got lower. He prayed again and again that his partner would just wake up, look at them with his typical smile and tell them that everything was fine now, that he was OK, and that he would never ever leave them.

But he didn't. He just didn't. Danny stroked Samantha's back as her sobbing increased and more tears started running down his own face. Questions started racing throught his mind. What if Martin didn't wake up? Would Samantha be able to take it? Would she be able to continue with her life?

Martin had made Samantha more happy than he had ever seen her. In the whole six years they had been working together in the Missing Persons Unit of the FBI he and Samantha had gotten close friends. He knew about her past, how hard Samantha's life had been when she was young, and he knew how hard it had been for her to open up to other people. They had never really talked about her affair with Jack and how hard it had been for Samantha when Jack broke up. But he knew it had really gotten to her and at that time he didn't know if Samantha would ever be able to have a 'normal' relationship again. Even before the whole thing with Jack had happened Samantha was really reserved, but after that it got even worse. She didn't go out any more, didn't talk to guys and if she had a relationship it was never very close and ended soon after it had begun.

But Martin had changed her. He had managed to do what no one else had ever done before: He had made Samantha smile. He had made her happy. Really happy. And he had loved her.

No, he _loved_ her. He wasn't dead. At least not yet. 'Don't start thinking like that. He won't die.' If he wasn't able to reassure Samantha and tell her that Martin would be OK, he at least had to tell himself.

Finally, Samantha calmed down a little bit and her sobbing stopped. "I'm sorry Danny. I didn't want to break down on you, it's just... I mean... 13 hours?" She looked up at him and her eyes mirrored all the mixed up emotions inside of her.

"Yeah, I know. And you don't have to apologize." As she looked down at the floor, Danny lifted up her chin so she had to look at him gain. "You hear me? You don't have to be sorry."

"I guess you're right. I'm sorry." Realizing what she had just said she chuckled slightly.

Danny smiled at her. "That's my girl, I already started missing this smile."

Suddenly, Samantha's expression changed. The smile faded off her face and changed with an expression full of shock and guilt. "Hey, what's wrong?" Danny asked worriedly.

Samantha looked at him in shock. "I'm laughing... I mean, I'm in a hospital room and Martin's badly hurt and I'm... laughing."

Danny didn't quite know what to say. Of course she had done nothing wrong by just laughing, but he could understand why it shocked her so much. "It's okay to laugh. You won't hurt Martin if you are happy or laugh or smile. I'm sure he would want you to be happy, not to sit at his side and cry the whole night." As Samantha didn't look very convinced, he added, "I'm sure Martin will be okay. You'll see, in a few hours he will wake up and smile at you just like he always does."

Samantha's eyes shone as she looked up at Danny. "Are you sure?"

Seeing the hopeful look in Samantha's eyes, Danny didn't know what to say. He had said it because he wanted to comfort Samantha, not because he really believed what he had said. But he couldn' t tell her this. "Yeah, I'm sure." He pulled her into another hug, not wanting her to see the expression on his face.

"I'm sure."

A/N: Still not awake, and I'm sorry about it. I wanted to let him wake up by the end of this chapter, but I have to end now, still have some homework to do and a project to finish. Maybe he'll wake up tomorrow...

Oh, and I'm sorry for apologizing so often ;) When I read your review Susan, I was really surprised, because I had already written the part about Sam apologizing for apologizing. You're able to read my mind or something? (grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, don't you steal my ideas! ;)


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Sorry it took me so long, been a bit lazy lately (vacation starts having his effect on me).

Mmmmhhh… I guess you'll like this: I think I'm finished with it soon! I know, I know, I said it before. At least I think I did, I talked so much in my notes I don't know what I said and what I didn't say. I guess I got a problem with talking too much... mmmmhhh... yeah, I guess I have. Okay, I'm doing it again right now, I'm getting off the subject... Whatever, you'll have to endure it some time more... or you can just not read this (I guess some of you don't, but they don't know I'm talking about them because they don't read it... as I said before... Okay, I'll stop now).

Yeah, what I actually wanted to say: Next week schools over (whooooohoooo!) and I think I'll get very lazy and I'll get a writer's block or something, so I'll try to finish it soon.

Soon probably means this week, because next week from Tuesday to Thursday we've got some project days (dunno what you call it, dunno if you have something like this at all) and then, on Thursday, we're going camping with our classes (party for end of school, but I'm not yet finished with school, still have three more years to go, but some of us leave school already, so we're having a party! Wheeeeeeeee!). I guess I won't get much sleep, so I don't think I'll have time to write.

Okay, guess I talked enough... or too much. Mmmmhh, more like too much.

Okay, okay! I'll stop. Here we go.

_Dedicated to: csigirlie156 (come back soon! Every time I read you're reviews it makes me fall off my chair), bdoney (yeah, some chapters are very easy to write, others take me several days), lapmal, Rose Ray(in Germany half of the third season already aired, I hope they'll show the end of it in fall), missusmesser, rabbitmonkey ( I know, it's not good to see you cry, but I like it! that didn't make sense, but whatever), _wItHouT a tRacE fReAk (mmmh, you think he should wake up?... okay... maybe...)

**Chapter 11**

Jack woke up right at the moment Danny entered Martin's room. At first he wanted to call out for him, but realising that he was in a hospital, he didn't think it was quite a good idea. Still, he didn't like the idea of Danny going to see Martin. The younger man hadn't slept while he was waiting, and Jack didn't think he had while Jack was asleep. He couldn't actually remember falling asleep, but his watch told him he had slept nearly 2 hours.

And obviously, nothing had changed yet. Martin still wasn't awake (otherwise he thought Danny would have woken him up to tell him), but neither had he died (if he had, he _knew_ Danny would have woken him up). Jack was getting more and more concerned. Martin was in this coma for almost 14 hours, and the chances got lower and lower. And still, his parents hadn't arrived yet. Victor had told him on the phone that they would get here as soon as possible, but that had been 12 ½ hours ago. He couldn't believe it took them so long to get here.

Silently, he cursed Victor for caring so less about his own son. He had guessed that it had never been easy for Martin to live in the shadow of the Deputy Director, always having to fight about being respected and being able to deal with problems on his own. People never thought he would be a good agent when he first attented the Missing's Person Unit of the FBI. Even his team memebers had thought Martin had only gotten the job because os his father's conncetions.

Jack knew it hadn't been true. He had chosen Martin as a member of his team. The young agent had attracted his attention when he first saw his file. Passed college with distinction, great records from his work with white collar in Seattle, outstanding performance in Quantico and passed all the necessary FBI-tests easily. Seeing the file, he had known this was his man. Of course he had looked through the other files, but none of the other applicants could compete with this one. When he had looked at the name on the file, he had been surprised to see the 'Fitzgerald, Martin' on it.

He had heard about the son of the Deputy Director having a great career within the FBI, and to be honest, it hadn't surprised him very much. Daddy's little boy, getting everything he needs, getting every job he wants, but probably not able to walk on his own feet. A spoiled little baby, just like all the others who got their jobs just because of Daddy.

But this record showed a completely different Martin Fitzgerald than he had imagined. Of course he gotten the call from his supervisors he had been expecting, but he had surprised them with having already made a decision. He had called Fitzgerald the same day he read his file, asking him to come over for an interview. And his hopes weren't destroyed. Because he had met Victor Fitzgerald before he had thought, if his son wasn't as nearly as spoiled as he thought he would be, he would at least be as arrogant as his father was.

He wasn't. It seemed like Martin had gotten all his father's ability's (even if Jack didn't like Fitzgerald, he had to admit that he hadn't gotten his position in the FBI without doing anything, in fact he had done a lot to achieve his glory), but had at the same time missed all his bad character traits. The arrogance, the cold-bloodedness, the unscrupulousness. He was still a rookie, of course he was. Two years white collar couldn't get him all the knowledge an experienced agent had, but he still had a lot of time to learn.

Martin had struggled a lot in his first days within the Missing Person's Unit. Danny hadn't made it easy for him, quite the opposite: he had made it harder. But he hadn't given up. He had fought his way through all the difficultys, all the problems, and he had become a full member of their team.

Danny had learned to trust Martin, that he wasn't in the FBI because of his father, that he deserved to be there as much as he did, and the two of them had gotten close friends. Vivian had liked Martin from the beginning. Jack had seen her act like a mother sometimes she was around him, always caring about him, being there for him, even covering for him in the Reyes case. Jack had had his problems with Martin at first. The young agent had been very hotheaded, and it seemed like, although he tried not to let it come to the surface, not all of his father's arrogance had gone past him without leaving a trace.

Then there was Samantha. The two of them hadn't been very close when Martin joined the team. After Barry Mashburn had kept Samantha hostage, their relationship had gotten closer. Martin had visited her in the hospital very often, telling to her about the cases, about the others, about everything that happened in the office. He knew Samantha couldn't stand it to have to stay in hospital for so long and after she could leave still not being able to go to work immediately. Martin had been a great help for her and Jack was quite sure Samantha even talked to Martin about their affair when Jack said he would go to Chicago with his family.

Like he had said, they had gotten closer. And closer. Very close, obviously. Samantha had been so happy like she had been never before. She had been happy when they had been together. Well, at least when they were alone. He knew he had hurt Samantha every time he had to leave at night to go back to Maria and his kids, every time they had to leave the office seperated not to let the others see what was going on. All the hiding and denying had caused more damage to her already hurt soul. When he finally told her it was over, he was surprised to see her react composed and understanding. But she hadn't been. She had come late to work the following days, sometimes he was quite sure she had been drunk the night before. He had wanted to talk to her, but she kept saying she was alright.

Of course she didn't want to talk to him, but Viv and Danny began to suspect something was wrong. Sometime, Samantha talked to Viv. Jack didn't know wether to be glad about Samantha seeming to get better, or ashamed because of Vivian looking at him like he was the world's biggest asshole. Well, probably he was.

Now Samantha was happy. Finally, after all of her lonely years, without having a family or anyone who truly loved her, Martin had saved her. He had just been there for her, caring about her, loving her. And it was all she needed. All he hadn't been able to give her.

Now it looked like he was leaving her again. And Jack knew she wouldn't be able to deal with it. He had thought about it, replayed the image a thousand times in his mind, and he was sure that Samantha wouldn't cope. Not now, not after everything she had been through, not after seeing how happy she could be with someone who loved her.

Jack got up and started walking down the corridor to Martin's door. He couldn't see much through the blind on the door, and his eyes had to get used to the darkness before he could make out the features of the room. Martin was lying on the bed, pale, fragile, lifeless. It was a horrible picture, seeing his young agent so weak and broken. Then he saw Samantha. She stood next to Martin's bed, hugging Danny with tears streaming down her face. He could hear her sobbing and Danny's attempts to calm her down.

But she just wouldn't. As Jack kept standing there, watching the scene through the slices of the blind, tears started rolling down his own face.

One night. It either saved Martin's life and made all of them get even closer, or it would destroy everything.

IMPORTANT! READ!

A/N: OK, so I think (and hope) I made all of you read this (even the ones who don't read my notes).

I wanted to thank all of you sooooooooooooo much! As I said before, coming home and reading reviews makes my day! Sometimes I've got to laugh so much my mom already thinks I'm going crazy... But it's really, really, really... wonderful to hear you like what I write. I wanted to tell you this because I think I didn't and can't thank you enough!

Maybe, if I go on some time more, I'll even get 100 reviews. I won't write till I get 100, but it would be nice... so, just review! And your allowed to criticise me, I'll be able to handle it! No one did it yet, but at least I think I'll be able to handle it... or I hope.

You see, the babbling comes back again.

SHUT UP ISABELL!

Okay, will do.

BYE!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Just re-read the last chapter and saw that I screwed the name of the guy Martin shot. It's Reyes, not Riley. Going to fix it when I post this chapter, just wanted to tell you in case you already read chapter 11 and wondered which case I was talking about. Sorry.

I was already thinking about maybe writing a chapter involving Vivian and as you wanted me to go on some time more (I know, most of you want Martin to wake up, but I like writing this one, dunno what I'm going to do without it), this chapter includes Viv.

Hope you like.

_Dedicated to: bdoney (try to keep it as good as ever ;)), Raven001 (mmh, this is the second time I got threatened, maybe I should think about hiring a bodyguard or something), rabbitmonkey (I try to write more, but I'm running out of ideas, well, here's your Viv chapter), newsyd (thanks a lot), missusmesser (glad I'm still able to make you cry, I was getting worried I lost that wonderful ability of mine, but I see, I'm still very good... uh, I'm a bit arrogant today...), Zonya (yeah, quite a good idea to keep the story running, THANKS), lapmal (I think I'll have enough time on our project days, we're going to get home early, so it'll probably be finished next wee), csigirlie156 (glad you're back), fans1024 (never mind, glad you've reviewed now), higherbeingfriendsfans (that was cute, seems like now it's your turn makin' me cry), __wItHouT a tRacE fReAk__ (though I think Jack's being a bit of a jackass sometimes it seems to me that he always cares a lot about his agents' safety) and fairygurl621 (again, I'm crying... It's so great to hear you like what I write!)_

**Chapter 12**

Jack just wanted to run into the room and tell Samantha everything would be okay, that Martin would wake up soon and that she would be happy again. But he couldn't. It felt like he was glued to the floor of the white hospital corridor, not able to move, tears still streaming down his face. He didn't cry very often. Actually, he could count the times he had cried in his life (including his childhood) on one hand. His father had always said 'Men don't cry'. And for his Dad, even a boy was a man. So he hadn't cried. Even if he felt lonely and sad or if he was hurt, he didn't cry.

He had cried, thought, when Hannah was born. It had been so overwhelming, holding this little person in his arms, his own flesh, and he had to care about her, teach her everything she should know, help her become the person she would be one day.

The second time he could still remember crying, was at his mother's funeral. His Dad had just stood there, staring at the coffin with the white lilies on top of it, showing no sign of emotion. No anger, no pain, no sadness, just nothing. It hadn't been the sorrow about his Mom being dead, of course he had been sad, but it was more his father still showing no sign of emotion. He had never been the person to show his feelings, but Jack had thought at least the death of his wife would make him a bit weaker. How wrong he had been.

And now, standing in front of a hospital room, with one agent laying there, maybe dying, his strong fassade broke down once again. He didn't like the idea of being vulnerable, but at the same time the image of his father, standing at his mother's grave, motionless, scared him to death. As a respected FBI agent he had learned to control his emotions, but it seemed like he hadn't just kept his feelings locked up at work, he had also done it while at home, being with his family, his wife, his kids. That was probably why Maria had left him. He had become unfeeling, cold. Like a stone.

Like his Dad. The thought kept running through his mind. His whole life he had tried to make everything right, be the perfect son, perfect agent, perfect husband, perfect father. But he had screwed everything. He had disappointed his father by leaving the army, disappointed the families of all the victims he hadn't been able to rescue, disappointed his wife when he stopped talking to her about his feelings, disappointed his children by not being ther for them when they needed him.

He hadn't even been able to protect his agents. Martin and Danny had been shot, Viv was also laying in hospital right now and Samantha nearly broke down because she couldn't handle being hurt again. Hurt by Martin leaving her like he had hurt her when he left her.

Jack stepped back from the door, wiping his tears away with the back of his hand and started walking down the corridor. He didn't quite know where he should go. Lost in thoughts about his life, his family, his agents and friends, he just wandered the corridors. Finally, he stopped.

Looking around, he saw that he was still on ICU. Reading the number of the room next to he saw that he was near Viv's room. Viv. It dawned upon him that she still had no clue about Martin and Danny and what had happened yesterday afternoon. He started walking to her door and was halfway there when he suddenly stopped.

Should he really tell her? Of course, Viv would want to know about it, but she had had a heart surgery only half a day ago. She needed rest, plenty of rest. Excitement could be dangerous for her.

Unsure of what to do, Jack sat down in a chair on the wall next to him. Viv would freak out if he waited until tomorrow to tell her the guys had been shot. Not to think about what if Martin really didn't make it through the night. But what if he told her now? Wouldn't she freak out even more? No, he didn't think so. Although Viv cared about Martin, Danny and Samantha like they were her own children, he knew Viv would stay calm. She would be worried to hell, cursing herself for not being able to be there for Samantha, but she wouldn't freak out.

He needed to tell her. So Jack got up and again started walking towards Vivian's door. He knocked slightly, then entered the dimly lit room. Markus was sitting next to his wife's bed, telling her about home and his work. When the two of them heard the door open they turned around to see Jack entering. He looked horrible. His tie was loosened, his suit crumpeled, his face was pale and he had dark circles around his eyes.

The smile quickly faded off Vivian's face when she saw the state Jack was in. "Oh may God, Jack, what happened?" She asked concerned.

Markus looked at his wife and said "I guess I head to work now. I'll come back later." He leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek, then got up and left the room. Before closing the door, he threw Jack one last glance, then he vanished out of view.

"What happened?" Viv repeated.

Jack walked over to her bed and sat down in the chair Markus had just left, then looked at Viv with what he thought was a look free of care. "How are you?" He ignored her question completely, not knowing how to start or what to tell her.

"I'm fine." Viv responded, "But what about you? You look like you didn't sleep the whole night. I told you to head home last night. Where have you been?"

Jack hesitated. "I... " Viv looked at him with her 'Tell me' look she always had when someone didn't tell her what was bothering him or her. So he just said, "I've been here."

Viv looked at him with a quizzical expression. "What do you mean 'I've been here'? You left the hospital last night when I told you to go home, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did."

"So?"

"I was just driving home when I got a call. It was Danny. He... " Jack didn't know how to go on. When he had called Samantha he didn't tell her what had happened. First he didn't want her to hear it on the phone, second he just didn't know how to say it. Luckily, Danny had took matters out of his hand by telling Samantha what had happened. It had been hard enought to tell Martin's parents that their son had been shot, but telling Viv, who he knew so well, was just too much.

"He did what? Why did he call you? Tell me!" She demanded.

Jack looked up and saw Viv staring at him with fear clearly visible in her eyes. He didn't know how to tell her, but he knew he had to. This uncertainty and worrying about what had possibly happened wasn't good for her. "He called to tell me that... he and Martin got into a shooting."

"What!" Viv was nearly yelling. "Where are they? Are they okay?"

"Hey, hey calm down. You are not supposed to strain too much."

"Jack, don't tell me to calm down when you just told me the boys got into a shooting, just tell me if they are okay!"

Jack saw there was no way of calming her down right now, so he decided to just tell her the truth. "Danny was hit once in his upper arm, but it was a through and through and he's okay."

Viv sighed with relief. "What about Martin?"

Again, Jack hesitated. "Wait, he's okay, right? I mean he's not-" Viv started.

"He's not dead." Viv put a hand to her heart and sighed again. "But he's in bad condition." Viv's head snapped up and again, her eyes were full of worry.

"He was hit twice and was in surgery for several hours. The doctor told us they had to remove his spleen and parts of his liver. Right now, he's... he's in a coma."

"Oh my God, Jack... Where's Samantha? Does she know about this? You have to call her, she needs to know, she-"

"Hey, Viv, it's okay. I called her, she's here, she's with him right now, okay? Calm down."

Viv relaxed a bit, but she still had a concerned expression on her face. "Is she alright? No, of course she is not alright. Martin's been shot and he's in a coma, why should she be alright? Jack, I need to see her. She needs somebody she can talk to. She shouldn't be alone right now."

"She is not alone. Danny's with her."

"Danny's here?" Viv asked unbelievingly. "But he shouldn't be! He should be at home, sleeping. A shot-wound can be dangereous. He needs rest!"

Jack put a hand on top of hers which was laying on the white sheet. She was shivering. "I told him to go home, but he won't. He's concerned about Martin and I know he wouldn't sleep, even if I made him go home. At least I can look after him while he's here."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Viv nodded her head slowly. She looked into space for several seconds before continuing. "Why did this have to happen while I'm in hospital myself? They need me! I should be there for them, take care of them."

"Viv, it's not your job to take care of them. You have to rest, get back to your normal strength. Then you'll still have plenty of time to be there for them."

"But they need me _now_. Not in three days or a week or something, _now_." Her voice was croaky and while she spoke, tears started rolling down her cheeks.

Jack didn't know what to say. Of course she was right, they needed her now. Viv always had a calming effect on everyone. She cared about strangers like they were her own family, and her team was her second family. Jack could only imagine how hard it had to be for her not being able to help, to reassure, to calm down. He was glad he hadn't told her about the 24 hours the doctor had given Martin to wake up. It had only confirmed her with saying they needed her now.

"Viv, there's nothing you can do right now, okay? I was there, I was with them, and there was nothing I could do, either."

She didn't seeom to be convinced by his words. "But-"

"No buts." Jack said. "You know I'm right. I didn't tell you about all of this because I wanted you to blame yourself for not being able to be with them."

"I'm sorry, Jack, it's just... you know, you're like my second family. I just wouldn't be able to handle it if something happened to anyone of you."

"I know." Jack replied. The shivering hadn't stopped, but it wasn't as bad as it had been earlier. "I know how much you care. But I have to say it again: There's nothing you can do."

Viv nodded. "Thank you, Jack. Thank you for telling me. I know you didn't have to do it."

"I knew you would have ripped my head off if I had only told you tomorrow." Jack said with a small smirk.

He got the smile he had hoped for. "Oh, yeah, you're damn right." Viv replied with a slight chuckle.

"He will be fine, okay? And in a few days, when you're able to stand up again, you go and see him. And I'm sure Danny and Samantha will come and visit you."

"Thanks, Jack. Again."

"You're welcome." Jack replied with a smile.

A/N: So, we've managed 12 chapters and 28 pages so far (without my notes and thanks and the double spaces). Guess we're slowly coming to an end now (but I've said it so often already, I don't quite believe myself when I'm saying it). :)


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Just read lapmal's review about her going on a vacation next week and not being able to read this story for a month. So I'll try really hard to finish it during the next week (I had planned to do it anyhow).

This chapter is going to be about Danny, but I promise, no I _swear_, the next chapter's going to be about Martin.

_Dedicated to: missusmesser (sorry, you'll have to worry about him some time longer), Rose Ray (it'll probabaly be sad, I dunno yet), newsyd (don't have to wait any longer), lapmal (promise I'm going to finish it, just for you, I know how hard it is not to know how a story ends), csigirlie156 (so, we're back to the meat grinder now, aren't we?), rabbitmonkey (I won't write just to continue with this, because I suppose it will get bad if I do. This is the last chapter about Danny, Viv or Jack, next will be fixed on Sam and Martin. The others will still be a part of it, but only with Sam and/or Martin) and bdoney (I really wanted to bring Viv in, but I didn't know wether it was a good idea to tell her because of her condition, so I let Jack think what I thought about it)_

**Chapter 13**

Jack had stayed with Vivian a bit longer, making sure she really was okay, not blaming herself for not being there for the others. They had talked about Samantha and how she dealt with Martin being hurt and in hospital, about Danny and his condition and, when Jack mentioned him calling Martin's parents, they also talked about Martin. Viv agreed with Jack about his father being a cold-hearted bastard for not caring about his son like a real father had to.

When Viv started yawning, Jack hastily got up, claiming he already kept her awake for too long and said he would leave her alone now so she could go to rest. Viv had assured him that she was okay, but had agreed with Jack saying he needed to go and check on Danyy.

A look at his watch told him nearly one and a half hours had passed since he saw Danny enter Martin's room. It was 4.47 p.m. by now. Walking down the corridor he saw Danny sitting in one of the plain white hospital chairs, his face covered with his hands. He slowly approached the younger man not to startle him and quietly said, "Danny."

Hearing his name, the young agent slowly lifted his head to see who had called him. He saw Jack standing above him, a deeply concerned expression on his face. "Jack," He said tiredly, "Where've you been?"

"I've been with Viv. Sorry I kept you waiting so long, but I saw you go into Martin's room and I thought you would stay with him for a while. When did you come back?"

Danny lokked down again to check his watch. "'Bout 20 minutes ago. How's Viv? Did you tell her?"

"She's doing fine. Yeah, I did tell her." After Danny shot him a questioning glance, Jack continued, "She took it quite well. Blamed herself for not being able to be here with you... but I assured her and we talked a bit. She's okay now."

"She shouldn't blame herself... it's not her fault. She needs to take care of herself now, not care about us." Danny said worriedly.

Jack nodded slightly. "Yeah, that's what I told her. But you know Viv. She treats you like her own children."

Danny smiled sadly. "Yeah, she does. She always did. I really wish she would be here now. She always manages to reassure everybody, make them feel less guilty or sad or whatever."

"Yeah, she does. I told her you and Samantha would go and visit her some time soon, as she's not being able to come here."

Danny nodded. "I'll go and visit her as soon as Martin wakes up."

"Yeah, well... " Jack hesitated.

"What?" Danny replied and stared at Jack inquisitively. "You didn't tell her about the 24 hours?"

"Erm... no. No, I didn't tell her." When Danny kept staring at him, Jack added, "I didn't know how to tell her. She had just said you needed her now, not tommorw or next week. Should I have told her then? She would have blamed herslef even more. No, I couldn't tell her. And I don't know if she should know it right now."

Danny still looked at Jack, but he seemed at least a bit convinced. "Yeah... I guess you're right," He replied slowly.

Jack just wanted to ask wether Danny had eaten something when he saw that the young man was panting slightly. "Hey, Danny, are you alright?" He asked concerned.

Danny, who had covered his face with his hands again, replied, "I'm okay, just a bit tired."

He wanted to get up but Jack put a hand on his arm and oushed him back down. Danny looked at him quizzically. "Have you eaten anything?"

Danny looked like he had just been caught, but he replied, "I'm really okay. I just need to get up and walk around a lil' bit." But as Jack kept staring at him he said, "No, I haven't eaten anything. But I'm not hungry. Really," He added as Jack didn't look like he did believe him.

"Danny, I know you're not hungry, but when I can't make you sleep I can at least force you to eat-"

"No, Jack. Don't start like this. I don't wann eat anything. Okay?" And with that, he got up, pushing the hand still holding onto his arm away. He knew immediately that it hadn't been a good idea at all. His legs felt like there made out of jelly and his mind was spinning like mad. He tried to grab something to keep himself upright and the last thing he felt before he fell to the ground were the arms of his boss, once again holding him as he broke down.

Jack saw something was really wrong the same second Danny had gotten to his feet. He put a hand to his head and with the other one he tried to grab hold of anything to keep himself from falling. Jack was by his side in a split second, catching him as he was falling to the ground.

He put the younger mans arm around his neack and with the other one he shoved him towards the chair he had just gotten up from. When he had managed to lay him down onto his side he checked his pulse. Relief washed over his face when he felt it, weak and quick, but still it was there.

He patted him on the cheeck slightly and said, "Danny. Hey, Danny. Come on, Danny-boy, wake up." The younger man stirred slightly, then his eyes fluttered open.

"Jack?" He asked, confusion filling his voice. "Where am I? What happened?"

"Hey, hey, it's okay. You passed out. But you're okay. I'm just going to get a doctor, okay? Don't worry, I'll be right back." With that, he got up and hurried down the corridor. Luckily, he found the doctor who had treated Martin right down the corridor, talking to a nurse. He told him what had happened and the man immediately started walking down the corridor, taking the nurse with him.

The two of them checked Danny's vital signs, then the nurse hurried off to fetch a gurney. Together with Jack, they laid the young man onto it and brought him to a quiet room at the end of the corridor. The nurse helped Danny settle on the bed comfortably, then she returned with a syringe which she handed to the doctor.

"Wait," Danny said weakly, "What's that?"

The doctor looke at him with a calming expression. "Don't worry, it's just some medication that will help you sleep a bit."

The words didn't seem to calm Danny down, quite the opposite: he got very agitated and started shaking his head. "No, no, I don't want to sleep. I don't want to get this sleeping drug."

Danny looked at the doctor pleadingly. "You really need to rest. You were shot last night, you didn't sleep and you just collapsed. I'm sorry but I have to insist."

The young agent turned around and looked at his boss, who was standing in a corner of the room, with a pleading expression. "Danny, I think the Doc's right, you really ought to-" He didn't finish his sentence when he caught the now desperate look his friend shot him. "Okay, okay. Doc, I know he really needs to rest and I swear I'll make him do so and maybe even eat something. But he wants to be awake when Martin wakes up. Couldn't you maybe... " He trailed off.

The doctor looked at him seriously, then turned around to look at Danny, on the bed, looking just as pale as the sheet he was layoíng on. "Alright, but you have to make him rest, and I will check upon him in about 15 minutes. The nurse will bring you something to eat."

"Thank you, doctor," Jack replied.

"Yeah, thanks a lot," Danny replied, his voice full of relief.

Turning to the bed, the doctor said, "But be warned. If you don't rest, I will give you this medication. You understand?" Danny just nodded. With a last warning glance towards Danny and a short nod towards Jack, the doctor left the room, leaving the two men in silence.

A/N: As I said earlier, last Jack/Danny/Viv alone chapter, next will all be including Martin/Sam. So, we're coming to an end.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I thought I was running out of time and wouldn't manage to end it this week, but I was just outside, getting some food for my rabbit and my guinea pig, and I got this idea... I'm just in a really good mood today. Project days started today and me and my friends (we're in the same project) did massages the whole day, tommorrow we'll do some wellness drinks and massages... again... school can be so wonderful :))))

Hope you can see how relaxed I am!

By the way: **105 **reviews! WOW! You guys are just amazing and great and wonderful... I love you all!

_Dedicated to: newsyd, __wItHouT a tRacE fReAk__ (no, still not awake, you'll have to wait more and more and... ), csigirlie156 (two in one's okay, as long as you return and continue reviewing!), berta101 (Me too, started on Saturday evening, but I only reached page 242. My Mom celebrated her birthday on Sunday, didn't have time to read more), Looney-Laura (a bit more to write, but the ends near, I'm sorry...), rozzy07 (thanks for reviewing now, it's great to hear you read the story and liked it and I'm happy with every review I get, no matter when), missusmesser (Congratulations! You've been my 100th reviewer!), __jtsideout389__ (oh, I said it quite often, I guess… makes you write more reviews! ;)), lapmal (you're very welcome!), bdoney (here we go...), fairygurl621 (Danny, Viv and Jack just had to be in it!) and Zonya (I did it well because of your even better idea, honey!)_

**Chapter 14**

Samantha shifted in her seat uncomfortably, her dreams making her relive the horrible events of the past 21 hours again and again. Jack calling her, Danny being shot, Martin being in a coma, Danny coming to the room and crying... Thinking of it, she had never really seen Danny cry. Not that he seemed to be cold and unfeeling, she knew that he cared about the victims and their families just as much as she did, but he just wasn't the type of man to show his emotions in public.

When he had started crying, she hadn't really thought about what happened. She had just embraced him, partly to calm him down, but more to comfort herself. Now, thinking about the whole situation, she saw that the everything got to Danny more than she would have thought. Of course, Martin and Danny had gotten closer during the years of working together, even gotten what you would call friends. During the time she and Martin were together the two of them often had to cancel dates because Martin went out for drinks with Danny (Samantha had always made Martin go, even if their date was already set, because she thought it would look suspicious if he declined Danny's invitations too often).

Danny had just held her tightly, quieting her sobs, but she had heard him crying, too. When she had finally calmed down a little bit the two of them had talked. They had just sat there, Samantha holding Martin's hand, Danny sitting next to her, talking about Martin.

FLASHBACK

_A dimly lit room. Samantha is sitting on a chair next to Martin's bed, gently caressing the back of his hand, chuckling slightly. Danny is watching her, his eyes bright, a small smile playing across his lips._

"_Martin never mentioned it." Samantha says, stil smiling._

_Danny chuckles, "You really think he would've mentioned it ever again? Oh, no. He nearly killed me when I said it would be a good piece of office gossip for the next few years. Said something nasty about me never having fun in my life again." He looks down at his hands, smiling at the memory._

"_Yeah, that sounds a lot like Martin to me. Do you still remember the night we went to this bar, celebrating our latest case, the little girl we brought back to her parents unharmed?"_

_Danny looks up and catches her eyes, she is grinning widely. Laughing he says, "Oh, no, please don't remeber me of it, everytime it comes to my mind or anyone mentions it I nearly fall off my chair. But that gay guy was really cute, maybe Martin should have thought about his offer. He seemed to be nice." _

_Samantha grins even more. "You're so mean! Martin nearly ran out of the bar when that guy came over."_

"_Yeah, well, I warned him he was being checked up on, but he didn't listen to me."_

_The two of them turn to look at Martin, absorbed in thoughts. Samantha smiles. "I would've been very disappointed if Martin had taken the guy. Then he would've never come over to my appartment that night."_

_Danny looks at her. "That night? You know, none of you ever told me when the thing between the two of you started."_

_Samantha looks at Martin, then turns to watch Danny's curious expression. With a smile, she replies, "It was the night we celebrated Viv's promotion." _

_Danny looks surprised. "Really? I only noticed several weeks later."_

"_Yeah, we went out of the bar together and I thanked him for saving my life." When she gets a quzzical look from Danny, she adds, "I got my gun taken from me by one of the guys in the warehouse. He aimed on me, but Martin knocked him down. Well, outside the bar, I just wanted to get into a cab, then I asked Martin to share the ride." _

_Danny smiles and says, "Yeah, you don't need to continue any further, I can imagine what happened next." _

_Samantha slaps him on the arm playfully and says, "I am outraged, Mr.Taylor, you always have to assume something dirty!"_

_Danny laughs and says, "So, you wanna tell me it wasn't?"_

_Samantha just smiles and doesn't reply._

END OF FLASHBACK

It had been relieving to laugh again, after all the anxious hours full of waiting. But now, after Danny had left almost 6 hours ago, the depressing silence had once again returned to the dark hospital room.

Suddenly, Samantha rose up from her lying position and stared down at Martin. Had he just moved? It wouldn't be the first time she imagined feeling a move or hearing a noise from Martin, after all she hadn't slept since the day before yesterday.

No, it hadn't been her mind playing a trick on her again. He had really moved. Her heart beated so loud she thought it could be heard outside of the room.

"Martin?" She whispered, nearly crying.

"Martin." His hand which she was holding onto moved slightly, then she saw his face twitching.

"Martin." This time, she said his name louder and clearer. Then, slowly, his eyes fluttered open.

"Oh my God, Martin." Samantha breathed, not longer able to hold back her tears.

He blinked several times, then turned his head to look at her. A smile came to his face as he whispered, "Hey sunshine."

A/N: Ok, one... two... three WHOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! HE IS AWAKE!

So, you're allowed to love me for waking him up, although you didn't have much time to enjoy it ;) But don't worry, there'll be more, More, MORE... HAHAHA!


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Obviously you liked Martin finally waking up… So, here comes the fluff…

_Dedicated to: higherbeingfriendsfan (oh yeah, the M/S stuff/fluff definately is coming), berta101, lapmal (I'm really really really sorry, but I probably won't be able to finish it this week... but at least I woke Martin up. Read the A/N at the end, I'll explain why I can't finish it), missusmesser (It WAS true! It really was! And it gets even better...), Loopey-Laura, CSI-Raven, csigirlie156 (I couldn't read the last part, but thank you nevertheless. Never been one's hero before... You make me so happy :)))), jtsideout389 (I'll bring the drinks, I've got enough for camping tomorrow... in germany, drinking's allowed when you're sixteen) and src13 _

**Chapter 15**

Previously on "On the edge" (A/N: HA! I always wanted to say that! ;))))

"Martin." This time, she said his name louder and clearer. Then, slowly, his eyes fluttered open.

"Oh my God, Martin." Samantha breathed, not longer able to hold back her tears.

He blinked several times, then turned his head to look at her. A smile came to his face as he whispered, "Hey sunshine."

"Martin," Was all she managed to say. Tears were streaming down her face and she started sobbing.

With a great effort, Martin lifted his hand off the sheet and wiped away the tears that were wetting her cheeks, whispering, "Hey, hon, it's okay. I'm here, I'm okay. Don't cry."

Samantha brought her hand up to her face and covered Martin's hand which was still resting on her cheek with her own. "I'm sorry, it's just... I thought you... I... " Once again, her voice died away, as she didn't know what to say. She had spent the whole last day, hoping, begging for this moment to come. There were a million things she wanted to tell him, things she _needed_ to tell him. Now, with Martin finally awake, looking at her with his bright blue eyes, all she did was cry.

"Sshhh, it's okay. You don't need to say anything." But his words only made her cry more. _She_ should assure _him_, telling _him_ that _he_ was okay, that _he_ didn't need to say anything.

"No, Martin, it's not okay. I have spent the last 21 hours sitting here, thinking about what I would tell you when you would wake up, and now I'm just sitting here, crying."

Surprisingly, Martin smiled. "But you just said everyrthing I needed to know." Samantha looked at him quizzically. "You really spent the whole day sitting in this dark hospital room, waiting for me to wake up?" Samantha nodded slightly. "You see? That's everything I need to know."

Slowly, her crying stopped. She brought her other hand to her face, wiped the tears off her face and took Martin's hand in both of hers. He smiled when she kissed his palm and then got up to get closer to him. Sitting down on the edge of his bed she asked, "How do you feel? Do you want me to get a doctor to give you some pain medication?"

"I'm fine. I don't need anything. Just stay here." He smiled, but it quickly faded off his face and he looked like he suddenly remebered something. "Where's Danny? Is he okay?" His voice was full of panic and he tried to get up.

Samantha pushed him back down slightly, saying, "Hey, hey, stay down. Danny's okay." Martin relaxed and stopped struggling against her hand on his arm. "He was here until a few hours ago, he'll probably freak out hearing you're awake." She smiled at him warmly.

They just looked at each other for a few seconds, then Samantha whispered, "I was so scared. I just don't know what I would've done if you had left me."

Tears came to her eyes once again, but Martin whispered, "Hey, don't cry. I would never leave you."

Samantha choked. Martin didn't know what was wrong with her but suddenly it hit him. He _had_ left her only a few weeks ago. "Martin, I... It was my fault. I understand why you left me, but I-"

Martin stopped her by putting a finger to her lips. "You don't need to explain it right now, there'll be much time for it later."

"But I want to say it now. I have to." She looked at him and he nodded.

"Okay."

"I know you left me because you were sick of hiding all the time. But we don't have to hide any more. I don't care if anybody knows about us. I _want_ them to know about us. I don't want to be without you ever again. I need you. I... " She trailed off.

Samantha saw the look in Martin's eyes, half questioning, half begging her to say what she intended to. "Martin, I love you."

He didn't reply. Instead, he just looked at her with the most loving look he had ever given her, then pulled her head down slowly. When she was only inches away from his face he whispered, "I love you too." He brought his face up to meet hers and their lips touched in the sweetest kiss Samantha had ever tasted. She had missed the touch of his lips against hers so much she didn't want to break contact ever again.

When he finally pulled away, pushing a lock of her hair behind her ear and cupping her cheek, he whispered, "I love you so much."

Samantha smiled and leaned down to kiss him again, whispering, "Me too."

A/N: Sorry, very short, I know! But don't kill me, I'll write more, I just don't have time right now. As I told lapmal earlier, I'll probably won't be able to finish it within this week. I have to stay in school till the afternoon tomorrow, and when I get home I'll sleep. As I told you, we're going camping tomorrow and I won't be able to sleep at night, so I'll sleep in the afternoon, because the next morning, we have to go to school. :( I don't want to look too dead, because it's our last day, so I have to get some sleep the day before.

To lapmal: Sorry honey, but I woke Martin up, so at least you'll be able to enjoy you're vacation a little bit! ;)

Oh, enough fluff? Or you want more? ;)


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Before we start, I want to say sorry for this chapter taking so extremely long. I told you I would probably get lazy during vacation and yeah... I got very(...) lazy. (Probably because of the camping trip, I didn't sleep a bit and was extremely tired during the next few days... But the trip was great)

_Dedicated to: __wItHouT a tRacE fReAk__ (really liked that idea, though I don't know if I'll put it into this fic. Thought about writing a sequel, you know, them dealing with the aftermath of the shooting... you'd like?), csigirlie156, bdoney), higherbeingfriendsfan, berta101, rozzy07 (oh yeah, of course I enjoyed! A LOT! Nice to hear I was able to change your feelings towards Sam... at least a little bit) Loopey-Laura, missusmesser, jtsideout389 (I know, in Germany we have to watch the re-runs of season one rolls eyes I already watched it a hundred times on DVD! I want the end of season three!), l'ilmissnitpick (I know, saying that she's his fiancee probably wouldn't get her in, but to continue with this story she needed to get in his room and I didn't want to just ignore the rules. And about the bed thing: she didn't _sleep _in his bed, she just sat there and I think that's allowed in hospitals) and Biajones_

**Chapter 16**

Finally, reluctantly, she pulled away. She brought her hand up to meet his face and caressed his cheek with her fingertips. "As much as I would like to continue with this, I guess I should get a doctor to check on you." She gave him a short kiss. "And I should tell the others." Again, their lips touched.

"Yeah, you should," Martin replied and gave her another kiss.

"Okay, but you have to stop."

Martin gave her a surprised look. "Me? _You_ can't keep your hands off of _me_," He said with a teasing smile.

"Oh, really?" Samantha asked and got up. She turned around and started walking towards the door when Martin grabbed her wrist. Turning around, Samantha gave him a questioning look. "What? I just took my hands off of you!"

Martin laughed. "Hey, I didn't complain, did I?" Then he pulled her close and gave her another kiss. "Now you're allowed to go."

Samantha smiled and headed towards the door, saying, "I'll be right back."

When she stepped out of the room, her eyes still fixed upon Martin, she bumped into the doctor. "Whoa!" He said, grabbing her arm so she didn't fall to the ground. "I know you're happy he's awake, but you don't have to knock me down right away."

"I'm sorry," Samantha said apologetically. "But how do you know he's awake? I just wanted to tell you..."

"There are windows to all of the rooms on ICU so we can watch our patients all the time." He explained.

"Oh..." Samantha said and felt a blush creeping up her cheeks, "So you saw...?"

The doctor gave her a smile. "Don't worry about that. We're glad to see people being happy sometimes. But now I have to go and check on him."

Samantha still felt a bit embarassed, knowing that the doctor and probably some nurses had seen their make out session, but decided to not show it; now that their relationship was public knowledge, she had to get used to people seeing them together. "I'll go and tell my colleagues he woke up."

"Oh, they are in room 608, just down the corridor." When he saw a look of worry washing over Samantha's face he added, "Everything is fine. But Mr. Taylor was exhausted from his injury and the lack of sleep so we brought him to a room were he could rest a bit."

"He's really okay? I mean, he was really tired when I saw him and-"

"Everything's okay," The doctor interjected, "But I really have to go now."

"Oh, yeah, right. I'm sorry." With a last smile, the doctor turned around and entered Martin's room.

Samantha stood there for several seconds and watched the doctor as he stepped next to Martin's bed, shook hands with him and started asking questions. Then, remembering what she actually intended to do, she turned around and started walking down the white corridor. Looking for the numbers next to every door, she finally found room 608. Knocking slightly, she entered, trying not to make too much noise in case Danny was asleep.

But as she stepped into the room, she saw that she needn't have worried, because Danny sat up quickly as soon as he recognized her. Jack, who had been sitting in a chair next to Danny's bed with his back to the door also turned around when he heard the knock.

"Sam!" Danny said, his voice full of worry. "What happened? Is he okay? Why are you-"

"Hey, hey, Danny, everything's okay," Sam reassured him, stepping closer to his bed and putting a hand onto his arm. "Martin is okay. He's awake," She said with a smile.

A look of great relief washed over Danny's face and Jack sat down with a sigh. "But when did he wake up? What did he say?" Danny asked.

"He woke up several minutes ago. We didn't have much time to talk, the doctor just came to check on him and I went to tell you. I knew you wanted to know right away. And Martin wanted to know how you are," Samantha added with a smile.

Danny looked at her with a look Samantha didn't quite understand. "He wanted to know how I am?"

"Yeah, when he woke up he immediately asked where you are and how you are. I assured him that you are okay, I mean I didn't know that you are... The doctor only said you were exhausted. What happened?" She asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," Danny said quickly, "But the doctor-"

"It's not nothing," Jack interjected with a look towards Danny. "He collapsed.

"What?" Samantha said with a shocked expression. "And why-"

"I'm fine," Danny said impatiently. "It was just the exhaustion, but I rested or," He threw Jack a nasty look, "They made me rest. So I'm absolutely okay now."

Samantha still held a sceptical expression so Danny added, "Don't worry about me. What about Martin? Can we go see him?"

"I told you, the doctor is with him at the moment, but I guess we're allowed to see him. And I think you wouldn't accept a 'no' anyway," Samantha replied smiling.

"You bet," Danny said with a serious expression. "You know no woman can resist the charm of Special Agent Danny Taylor and there are a lot of nurses in this hospital." Samantha and Jack started laughing and Danny put on a mock hurt expression. "What? At least Samantha should know I'm right."

"Of course you're right," Samantha said, still smiling broadly. "_Special Agent Taylor_," She added ironically.

Danny chuckled slightly. "So now what about seing Martin?"

Jack took matters out of Samantha's hands when he said, "I'll go and find the doctor, ask if you're allowed to see him. I don't think they'll let me in, but I can wait till he is moved to another room. All that matters is that you can go see him, or you won't let me get some rest ever again."

He got up and exited the room. Danny chuckled again and said, "Am I really that bad?"

"Oh, no, of course you're not. You're wonderful. Great. Honestly," Samantha said with a serious expression.

"Hey, only because I'm lying in a bed and I'm wearing this stupid hospital gown- Don't laugh-," He said as Samantha started chuckling, "Doesn't mean I'm not able to defend myself anymore."

"I'm sure you're still perfectly able to defend yourself, but if you really want to go and see Martin you should change, because I can't promise that Martin won't make fun of you."

"Nah, he wouldn't," Danny said, "Would he?"

Samantha started laughing. "Oh, I don't know. I don't think being in the same situation would keep him from making fun of you. You know, the view on your back in these things is really not very sexy."

Danny started chuckling too. "What, you don't like it?"

Samantha flashed him a sexy smile. "Of course I like it, you said it only a few minutes ago: No woman can resist Danny Taylor."

"Damn right you are," Danny said and got up. "Now if you don't mind, I would like to dress so my lovely partner won't ever regret he woke up."

Samantha smiled, then turned around and handed Danny his suit and shirt. She started pulling the shades around his bed to give him some privacy, then stopped and looked at Danny with a teasing smile. "Do you need any help?"

Danny grabbed a pillow lying on the bed next to him and threw it in Samantha's direction, but she quickly ducked away and closed the shades with a chuckle. "Hey, I only wanted to help."

"Oh, yeah. You see, even you can't resist me." He heard laughing coming from behind the shades. When he was fully dressed, he pulled back the shades, tie still in hand.

"Obviously you aren't able to dress on your own," Samantha said with a look on his tie.

"Oh, I didn't think there was a dress code in hospital rooms telling you to wear ties," Danny replied sarcastically.

Samantha laughed slightly and started to say something in return when Jack entered. "Okay, you're allowed to see him, but only for a few minutes. After that, I'm going to take you home." Danny opened his mouth to complain when Jack said, "No! I won't have any arguments about it! You collapsed once, that's enough for one day. You said you wouldn't head home until you got to talk to Martin. Now you can talk to him. Then I'll take you home."

Danny saw that Jack wouldn't accept any contradiction, so he just nodded. "Okay, then let's go see him," Jack said, heading towards the door.

Samantha smiled at Danny and the two of them left the room together.

A/N: I'll try and update regularly. Sorry about the one week I didn't write anything, but I warned you about the vacations (although even I didn't think it would be _that_ bad...)

Oh, in case anyone wondered: I changed my pen name (obviously). I didn't like the old one, I only took it because I couldn't think of a better one.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: I'm really sorry for leaving you hanging so long, but when I got back on Sunday I wasn't in the mood to write anything at all. But while I was reading another story right now where the author was apologizing for taking to update so long I suddenly felt so incredibly bad for just being too lazy to write anything at all I thought I had to pull myself together and write. So, guys, I can't apologize enough, this one's for all of you who hated me for not updating (yes, you're allowed to hate me- as long as you keep on reading ;))

_Dedicated to: higherbeingfriendsfan (I was glad to hear you liked the Danny/Samantha teasing thing, because I didn't think I'm good at writing this stuff), rabbitmonkey, Zonya (Yeah, I really think I needed to get a bit of a life. Well, I had enough of it, now I'm back ;)), bdoney, __wItHouT a tRacE fReAk__, csigirlie156 (sorry to make you sad, I really didn't mean to... But the trip was very spontaneous), Kadyann, thebondgirl (don't worry about not being able to review, as long as you still read my story (which I know you do), I'm happy) and missusmesser (glad I'm not the only one...)_

**Chapter 17**

When Jack reached Martin's door he stopped and turned around to face Danny. "You've got ten minutes." Again, Danny started to complain and again, Jack interrupted. "Hey, actually, you wouldn't be allowed to go and see him at all. You'll have more time to see him tomorrow when you have slept and eaten. Now go."

Danny threw Jack one last glance, then followed Samantha into the room. He stopped by the door and watched as she stepped next to Martin's bed and whispered, "I'm back." Martin slowly opened his eyes and looked at her with a smile.

"Hey," He said, "Where've you been? I was getting worried."

Samantha smiled and leaned down to kiss him when Danny interjected. "Hey, lovebirds, I'm still here!" And with that, he stepped out of the shadows and next to Samantha.

"Danny!" Martin exclaimed.

"Hey partner," Danny said with a grin and took Martin's hand, "How are you? Finally awake?"

Martin chuckled slightly and replied, "What, you missed me?"

"Yeah, you wish," Danny said laughing.

Their teasing continued for several moments until Martin put a serious exrpession on. "How are you? The only thing I get to hear if I ask how you are is 'okay'." He watched Danny, who had sat down on a chair next to his bed closely. Then his gaze fell upon the dressing on his partners arm. "What's this? That doesn't look like 'okay' to me!"

Danny tried to calm him down. "Hey, that's nothing. I was hit by a bullet, but it was a through and through and I'm really okay now."

Martin still looked furious and said, "Why didn't anyone tell me?" He turned to look at Samantha with a reproachful look. "When I asked you how Danny is you said okay!"

Samantha, sitting on the edge of his bed, took his hand and replied calmly, "When you asked me how Danny is you nearly panicked and tried to get up. You think I should have told you that he was shot then? If I might remind you, you had just woken up from a 21 hour coma. I don't think that was the right moment to hear it. Don't you think?"

Although her speech was everything except funny, Martin had to smile at Samantha's tone. It sounded like a mother explaining her 8-year-old son he wasn't allowed to get any more candies before going to bed. "Yes, Mom," He said with a huge grin.

For a moment it looked like she didn't quite get the point, but when Danny burst into laughter a blush crept up her cheeks, accompanied by a very ashamed look. "Hey, I am right!" She tried to denfend herself, althoug it was a very weak attempt as Danny laughed even more.

Martin gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and said with a smile, "Of course you're right, hon."

Danny finally stopped laughing and wiped his eyes, still chuckling slightly. "Y'know, you're really cute, you two. You're acting like an old couple who has been married for 50 years or somethin'."

Samantha gave him a deathly glare and said, "You're really lucky you already got hurt, Taylor, otherwise I would do it right now."

Martin laughed slightly, as did Danny, who replied, "Yeah, right. We both know that you would never, and I mean it: never ever, would be able to hurt me. You just love me too much."

"Hey, man, maybe I should remind you: I'm awake now. So you'd better stop flirting with my girl," Martin said with a sly grin.

It was Samantha's turn to laugh. "So that's what I am now? Your girl? Isn't that a bit too high-school?"

Danny and Martin exchanged a look and started grinning. "That's a guys-thing, Sam," Danny replied. "Our girlfriends never stop being our girls."

"Oh," Samantha said with a mock hurt expression. "If you want me to leave, just spill it."

Martin brought his hand up to cup her cheek and gave her a loving look. "I don't want you to leave ever again."

"Oh my God," Danny said with mock disgusted expression. "I think that's my cue to leave." Samantha and Martin turned around and started laughing when they saw the look on their friend's face. "Jack has probably already paced a hole into the floor."

"Where is Jack, by the way?" Martin asked suddenly.

"He's waiting outside," Samantha replied.

Martin gave her a questioning look. "Why doesn't he come in?"

It was Danny's turn to answer his question. "Actually, we're not allowed to be here right now."

Again, Martin gave them a questioning look, so Samantha added, "You're on ICU. Only family's allowed to visit you here and it's way past visiting times, too. But Jack managed to persuade the doctor to let Danny in, because he knew he wouldn't get him to leave without seeing you. Jack said he would wait outside, then take Danny home. He'll come by and visit you when you're transferred to another station."

"Oh, okay," Martin said with a slightly disappointed look. Then he turned around and looked at Samantha quizzically. "But how did you manage to come in here? I mean, you said you stayed with me the whole night..."

Samantha shifted uncomfortably and said, "Well, I... uhm..." She stopped and looked down, suddenly very interested in their still interwined fingers.

Danny started laughing and said, "Yeah, thanks for remembering me, buddy, I nearly forgot." After receiving confused look, Danny laughed again. "Congratulations!"

Martin threw Danny another, now totally confused look, but when he only received more laughter, he turned around to look at Samantha who still seemed very interested in her hands. He looked back at Danny (still laughing) , then Samantha (still examining her hands) and finally asked, "Would anyone be so kind and fill me in?"

The slightly annoyed tone finally made Samantha look up from her hands and Danny stop laughing (thoug he still chuckled slightly). "Well?" Martin demanded, looking from one to the other.

"Um... you know, the rules say that only family members are allowed to see persons on ICU and, well, the doctor was very insistent and I couldn't just keep sitting out there, waiting for someone to tell me what's going on so I... I told him that you and I, y'know... that we are- I mean it's not like I want to, don't get me wrong, I just wanted to see you and-"

"Samantha," Martin said loudly. Startled, Samantha looked up. She hadn't even noticed that she had looked down at her hands again, and when she looked at Martin now, she was surprised to see him wearing a huge grin. "What did you tell him?"

"I... I said I was your fiancée," She said and blushed, immediately looking down at her hands again.

"Hey," Martin said, trying to get her to look at him. "Hey," He said again, this time louder. When she still continued observing her hands he lifted her chin up sligtly so she had to look at him. "Hey," Martin said a third time. This time he got a small, shy smile as a response. "You don't have to be ashamed because of what you said. I'm glad you were here." She smiled at him, this time genuinly, and leaned in to kiss him.

"OK, and again, my cue to leave," Danny said and got up.

Samantha and Martin pulled away and turned to look at Danny. "Hey, man, I'm glad you were here," Martin said while taking his partners hand.

"Yeah, and I'm glad I was able to be here," Danny said seriously.

The two of them looked at each other seriously, but Samantha decided not to let anyone get depressed again. "OK, now get the hell out of here, because Jack's going to kick your ass if you're not."

Danny started laughing and replied, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Bye Sam," He walked over and gave her quick hug, whispering into her ear, "I know you two hadn't any time to be alone lately, but remember this is still a hospital." Samantha smacked his arm slightly, trying to hide the blush that, yet again, crept up her cheeks. Danny gave her a knowing smile and winked at her, before turning towards the door. He waved at Martin and said, "I'll come back as soon as possible," Then turned around and closed the door.

A/N: I managed to write a long chapter, finally. And I promise I won't take two (or three? See, I already forgot it) weeks to update again. I've got a few ideas for the next chapters coming (though there won't be much more, I don't know exactly how many, but I'll keep it open ended, I'm pretty sure I'm going to write a sequel), but I'm suffering a really bad writer's block at the moment, and those of you who write stories themselves know how hard it is to write anything useful if you're just not in the mood to write anything at all. But I promise I'll finish this one before the end of holidays. When I finally get to watch the end of season three (should air here in two or three weeks) I'll probably get enough inspiration to write the sequel.

Oh, and there's one thing I wanted to ask you: Has anyone of you ICQ or is interested in e-mailing and/or beta-reading my stories? I've already started e-mailing with one of my dear reviewers, and I really appreciate it to be able to talk English sometimes even though I'm not at school. And disussing Wat or fanfics or anthing with someone wouldn't be too bad, either (none of my friends watches the show :( )

So, if anyone would like to contact a very, very lonely :( person ;) just e-mail: IsabellColletweb.de


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: I wanted to make up for the last chapter taking so long, so here's the next one. I have to say special thanks to Debz for beta-reading and Briana for e-mailing and giving me someone to talk to (about the show. Even I'm not _that_ lonely ;))

_Dedicated to: higherbeingfriendsfan (thanks again for beta-reading, I really appreciate), csigirlie156 (it was really great you let me know you liked the chapter although the evil review thingy wouldn't let you do so ;) I hope this time there will be no problem), Loopey-Laura, bdoney (thanks a lot for the link, I am definitely a big M/S shipper and clarkson04 (don't worry, there is another chapter (as you can see) and even this isn't the last one)_

**Chapter 18**

After Danny and Samantha entered Martin's room, Jack sat down on the bench outside. It had been a long, tough night, and he was glad that he finally got to head home to get some well needed sleep, though it probably wouldn't be very much, as it was 10.53 p.m. already and it would take at least one hour taking Danny home and then getting home himself. Plus he had to get up early the next day – there would be a lot to do with two of his agents getting hurt, one of them in critical condition. There would be an investigation, including tons of paperwork, he had to get a replacement, as Martin would be out for several weeks, maybe even months and Danny would only be able to do desk jobs for several days. Samantha would probably also take some time off when Martin got out of hospital to take care of him, and nobody knew when Viv would be able to get back to work. He leaned his head back against the cool wood of the hospital wall, closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.

To say it in a few words: The following weeks would be hell. But he worst of all was: Once the press got to know that two FBI agents had been shot, one of them being the son of the Deputy Director, and the Bureau hadn't managed to catch the person responsible yet, he would be followed by reporters every minute of the day. He sighed again and opened his eyes, trying to get rid of the million things he would have to take care of later on.

Suddenly he heard footsteps coming closer quickly and looked up to see who was disturbing the first break he got today. Seeing the cause of the noise he felt anger welling up inside of him and his face turned into a grim expression as he got up and murmured, "Great."

Jack watched as the tall man quickly walked down the corridor towards him, his cold blue eyes wearing an accusing glance, his thin lips pressed together. His suit, though Jack knew he just left the plane from a 5 hour flight, was still in a perfect shape, with his shirt buttoned all the way up and his tie fitting perfectly. If anything, the sight only made Jack even more angry. Every other person who had just flown 5 hours because they knew their son had been hurt badly and could possibly die would not give a fucking damn about how they looked. But here he was, the almighty Victor Fitzgerald, looking as professional as ever.

Jack clenched his teeth. "Victor," He said, trying to suppress his anger.

"Jack," Victor said, stopping in front if him.

Jack opened his mouth to say something when he was interrupted by the woman who had been running down the corridor besides Victor. Now she stood in front of him, grabbing the front of his shirt and yelling, "Where is he? What happened? Did he wake up?" Her voice was desperate and tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"Heather," Victor said in a low, dangerous voice, "Would you please pull yourself together?" His words held a warning tone, just like he was telling a kid to stop begging for candies. He put a hand onto her arms which still held Jack onto Jack desperately and tried to pull her away.

"No, Victor, leave me alone!" She pushed him aside and turned back to face Jack, "Where is my son?" She almost screamed.

"Heather!" Victor said again, this time louder.

Jack, who had been too surprised by the sudden attack to answer, now shot Victor a deathly glare, then turned to face the woman in front of him. "It's alright, calm down. Martin is okay," He said in what he hoped was a reassuring voice.

Heather let out a half sob, half scream and asked in a high-pitched voice, "Where is he? I want to go and see him!"

"He's in this room, but his colleagues are just in there, I'm sure they'll be out any minute and then-"

"Heather, would you now please calm down!" Victor said in an almost threatening voice, "People are starting to look at us." Once again he started pulling her away from Jack, but this time she didn't just push him away, instead she turned around and started yelling at him.

"I don't give a damn about who's looking at us, okay? And no, I'm not going to calm down! Our son almost died and we were stuck on Hawaii because you needed to see the newest house of one of your very important friends in Government! But you don't give a damn about it, do you? Instead of coming here right away, after we had already wasted 9 hours waiting for this goddamn plane, you had to give an interview outside of the hospital! Your image is more important to you than Martin's life! Goddamnit, Victor, he is your son!"

With every accusation her voice had gotten shriller, and by now she was screaming with fury. Although Jack didn't care about the people staring at them as much as Victor did, this was still an ICU, and there were other patients in critical condition. So he carefully placed his hand on the woman's shoulder and pulled her away from Victor, who had gotten extremely pale at first, but slightly turned into a deep shade of red. He looked like he was just about to explode and when he opened his mouth to say something Jack said, "Back off!"

Victor looked like he had been slapped in the face, but Jack didn't care a bit. During the night, his anger towards Victor had subsided, mostly because of the fact that he was just too tired to care about anything except the fact that Martin may woke up soon, but it all had come back the moment he saw the older Fitzgerald walking down the corridor. The words of his wife only confirmed what he had already been thinking about Martin's relationship towards his Dad the past three years. His anger had welled up like he didn't think was possible, and by now it was just boiling below the surface.

So instead of saying anything else and risking to punch him right there in the middle of the hospital and in front of several nurses and doctors which had come to watch the exchange by now, he just turned around and pulled Heather with him. At first he was surprised that she didn't protest, but when he turned around he saw tears running down her cheeks. He lowered his hand to the small of her back and used his other hand to lead her to the waiting area and usher her into one of the seats.

As she slopped down onto the seat her tears began to well up even more and she sobbed, "I'm sorry you had to see this. It's just... he has been so cold the whole night, not saying a word and I just..."

"It's okay," Jack assured her. "You don't need to apologize. Tonight has been tough for all of us. I can't even imagine how it would've been if it was my child lying in hospital and I was stuck somewhere. So it's perfectly understandable. Really."

The woman lifted her head and looked at him with a tear-strained face. Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, she nodded and managed a small smile. Suddenly she let out a small laugh and a sigh. "God, now look at me. I'm sitting here, crying all over you and I don't even know your name."

Jack gave her a small smile and replied, "Oh, don't worry about that. I've got people crying all over me almost every day and I'm pretty sure most of them don't know my name either." The woman laughed slightly and Jack added, "Jack Malone. I'm your-"

"Oh my God, of course, your Martin's boss – oh, I... I guess should say supervisor," She said and blushed.

It was Jack turn to laugh. "That's okay. I prefer being called 'the boss'."

The woman chuckled and said, "I'm sorry I didn't remember you, Martin always talks about you, I don't know why I-"

"Really, don't worry about it. I don't think we've ever met before. But I've surely got to meet your lovely husband several times before."

Heather's face darkened at the mention of the name, but she didn't say anything, so Jack decided to just letit slip. "Listen, as I said before, Martin's colleagues are just in there visiting him, but Danny won't stay there much longer. I am going to take him home now, he hasn't rested since the attack and he surely needs to-"

"Was he hurt?" Heather's face held a worried expression. As she saw the questioning look on Jack's face she added, "I met him when I went to visit Martin last year. Was he in the car with him?"

"Yeah, he was," Jack replied. "He was shot in the arm, but it was a through and through. Everything's okay, he's just pretty exhausted from the lack of sleep; he refused to go home until Martin woke up."

"Oh, okay, but you said colleagues?"

"Samantha's also in there. But I don't know if she will go home, she was pretty worried and stayed with him the whole night, I guess she'll refuse to leave," Jack explained. He didn't mention the fact that she was his girlfriend, because he wasn't quite sure Martin had told his parents. His mother probably wouldn't mind, but Jack still thought Martin should tell them himself. "Danny will probably be here any minute, I told him-"

Just as he started to tell her that he gave Danny only ten minutes the door opened and Danny walked out, wearing a huge grin. As he saw Jack sitting there, talking to Martin's mom, he immediately wwnt over to greet her. Heather also got up and called out, "Danny!"

She quickly crossed the waiting area and enveloped him an a hug. "Are you okay? Jack said you were shot but that you were okay. Are you really okay?" She pulled away and looked at him closely.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Danny replied, still holding onto her hand. "I'm glad you finally got here. Martin woke up several minutes ago, he'll be glad to see you."

"Thank God you're okay. I was so worried, and then we were stuck on this damn island... but that's not important right now. You need to go home and rest. Jack told me you didn't sleep the whole day."

Danny shot Jack a glance as if to say: Do you have totell everyone, then turned back to Heather and replied, "That's okay. I wouldn't've slept even if I had been at home. But now I'm really tired. I'll come by tomorrow, see how he is."

"Okay," Heather said and gave him another hug. "I'm so glad."

Danny turned around to face Jack, who had also gotten up and stood there waiting for Danny to finish. Jack nodded at him, then looked at Heather and said, "We'll be back tomorrow."

She nodded at him, then gave Danny a warm smile as he turned around and the two of them left. As they passed the hallway which led to another part of the hospital he spotted Victor talking to Martin's doctor. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared down the corridor. The doctor left and entered one of the rooms along the corridor.

Danny turned around and saw that Jack wasn't behind him anymore but instead had stopped in front of the reception and was now staring down the corridor. "Jack?" He said but got no reply. Shifting his position, he managed to look down the corridor into which Jack had been staring and now started walking down. At the end, near a huge black window, through which Danny could see the lights of New York, stood Victor Fitzgerald. "Oh, great," Danny muttered, oblivious to the fact that he reacted exactly the same way Jack had when first seeing the Deputy Director.

Jack continued walking down the corridor, his eyes fixed upon the face of the man in front of him. Finally, when Jack was only several feet away, Victor looked up. His face immediately clouded when he saw who was coming towards him and Jack saw his jaw tighten, but he didn't say anything till Jack stood directly in front of him. "What do you want?" Victor pressed.

"What _I_ want?" Jack asked, his anger returning full force. "I want nothing. You should maybe ask what your son wants, or better yet_ needs_. Because, if I remember correctly, he's the one lying in a hospital room right now, he's the one who spent the night fighting for his life, he's the one you should be talking to right now, not _me_. And before you start saying anything else: I don't care where you've been or why you weren't here, because as much as I learned during the past three years and especially the past 21 hours, it doesn't matter anyways. In the past you ruined too much to make up for it any more, which I doubt you plan on doing, so just go in there now and make sure you are at least there for him now, even if you weren't the past 35 years." With that he turned around and left.

A/N: Next chapter will be the talk between Martin's mom, Martin and Samantha (and Victor, eventually), then I'll probably write a chapter including the whole team, and that's it. 20 chapters, that's enough, I think. But there's still the sequel :)


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Hey, I'm back... finally. I won't even try to apologize, because I said I would post the end of the story before school started again, so saying school was pure stress won't count as an excuse. Well, here is the next chapter. It's second last, as I said before, there's only the epilogue to come. I wanted to post this before the season four premiere aired in the U.S. tonight, so I had my beta-readers working overtime (thanks again you two). Okay, enjoy (especially to you who will get to know what _really_ happened tonight).

_Dedicated to: missusmesser (I hate victor either, believe me, but this chapter is... well, you'll see), higherbeingfriendsfan (okay, I just can't stop thanking you for helping me so much with the story hun), awesomepossum (next thanks to you ;) you're just amazing. And I still mean it, love your profile honey :) ), __wItHouT a tRacE fReAk__, whatever90, Zonya (Danny and Heather? Mmh, never thought about it... ;) ), jtsideout389 ( I really had some problems writing Victor, also can't wait to see him in season four), clarkson04, outrageous band geek (you don't scare me, don't worry, and I love all the reviews. Especially yours, you manage to make me laugh every single time), Mrs. Fitzgerald, thebondgirl, lapmal, Annika (hey thanks a lot for your review, it was my first one from someone from Germany (at least I think so). Oh ja, ich freu mich wirklich sehr auf Freitag, das ist mein einziger lichtblick während der woche ;) Danke dass du die geschichte so sehr magst und findest ich bringe es gut rüber. Ich schreibe wirklich gern, und wenn ich damit leute um ihre nachtruhe bringe ist es mir das wirklich wert.), sorry about that, I know most of you couldn't read it., Dennise Taylor and kitty kitty_

_Special thanks to: Debz, Kate, Briana and Celeste_

**Chapter 19**

After Danny had left, Martin and Sam just looked at each other for several long moments.

"I was so scared," Sam finally whispered, breaking the silence that had lasted in the room. The tears she had been holding back fel down her cheeks freely as she spoke again. "I was so scared I would lose you. I don't know what I would have done if... I don't know if I would have made it through..."

"Hey, hey..." Martin brought his hand up to her face and cupped her cheek. He wiped the tears away with his thumb. "It's okay. I'm okay." He lifted his head and kissed her forehead softly, then pulled back and looked ate her intently. "I wouldn't leave you... again. You're the best thing that ever happened to me in my entire life and I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon. So don't cry."

A soft smile spread across her face as she blinked back the tears. "Thank you," She whispered and leaned down to kiss him.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Samantha looked at Martin who returned her questioning glance. "I thought you said Jack would only visit when I'm being transferred to another station?" Martin asked.

"That's what he said," Sam replied as she quickly wiped away the tears that still clung to her cheeks. They both turned towrads the door as it began to open, and a smiling Heather Fitzgerald was revealed.

"Hey sweetheart," She said with a loving glance towards her son as she stepped into the room.

"Mom," Martin said. His voice wavered between surprise and joy. "I thought you were on Hawaii?"

"We got on the next plane as soon as we heard what happened," Heather explained as she sat down on the edge of Martin's bed and took his hand into hers.

"I'm sorry I ruined your vacation," Martin said with an apologetic look towards his mother.

"Oh, honey, don't apologize. I couldn't care less about Hawaii at the moment."

Samantha had watched the encounter between mother and son silently. Now she got up and turned to leave, but Martin grabbed her wrist and pulled her back towards the bed. "Where are you going?" He asked and Samantha couldn't quite place the look in his eyes: Was he scared?

"I was just heading outside to give you some time to talk," She explained and watched him intently.

"Oh, that's nonsense." Samantha looked up. Martin's mother looked directly at her for the first time since she entered the room. "You don't have to leave just because I'm here. And it doesn't look like Martin wants you to leave at all," She added, with a smile towards her son.

Martin looked up at his mom, glad to see her smiling, then turned towards Samantha. "Samantha, this is my mom."

Samantha smiled at her shyly, something Martin had never seen her do before. He turned towards his mom and was surprised to see the smile gone from her face, replaced by a serious expression.

"Samantha? You're the one who stayed with Martin the whole day and night?" Heather asked.

Samantha just nodded, obviously too afraid to speak. But her expression quickly changed to one of surprise when Heather got up and went around the bed in one fluid motion. "Thank you so much," She whispered as she enveloped Samantha in her arms. Martin saw her close her eyes as one single tear rolled down her cheek. Surprised by the warm gesture, Sam didn't know what to do at first. Then she slowly lifted her arms to rest them on the older woman's back and returned the hug.

As Heather finally pulled away, she looked at Samantha with thankful eyes. "I'm so glad you were with him all the time. There was no plane available to get us back to New York right away and the whole time I was worried sick that Martin would be alone. Thank you so much for being here."

Samantha smiled at her genuinly. "I wouldn't have gone anywhere else."

Heather's smile grew even wider as she glanced at her son quickly, then turned towards Samantha. "So, I take it you are..." She didn't finish her sentence, but there was no need. Martin took Samantha's hand into his and she looked at him shortly before he turned towards his mother.

"Yeah, we are. Mom, Samantha is my girlfriend." Samantha glnaced at Martin quickly, then looked back at his mother, waiting for her reaction anxiously.

Just as Heather opened her mouth to speak, there was another knock on the door. She turned towards the door and Samantha saw the smile fading off her face as Victor Fitzgerald stepped into the room.

Samantha felt a shiver run down her spine as the piercing blue eyes of the Deputy Director scanned her shortly and then came to a rest on the form of his son. The same change of expression Samantha had just seen on Heather Fitzgerald's face now seemed to take over Martin: his smile quickly turned into a cold and stony expression. Althought she had known Martin's relationship towards his father wasn't the best, it still surprised her to see the look in his eyes: she could only describe it as hatred.

Victor Fitzgerald seemed to be oblivious to the fact that the atmosphere in the room had changed dramatically since his entrance mere seconds ago. Samantha wondered silently if he was really that oblivious to other people feelings or if he just didn't care, though she was not quite sure which choice she would like better.

"Dad," Martin stated with a grim expression.

"Martin," Victor replied.

Martin just couldn't believe it. He hadn't exspected his father would react very emotionally or concerned; he knew better than that. But the fact that his father showed not the slightest piece of emotion was just too much.

"So, how was your flight?" Martin asked dryly.

He wasn't quite sure, but it seemed like the cold expression on his father's face seemed to soften slightly. "Martin, listen..." Victor paused and looked at Samantha shortly, then turned back towards his son. "I know you're angry we didn't get here earlier, but there was no plane-"

"- no plane available. Yeah, I know, Mom already said it," Martin replied. He didn't even try to hide the anger he was feeling boiling up inside. "And I'm not angry you didn't get here earlier." Victor opened his mouth to reply, but Martin interrupted him. "I'm angry you don't seem to be concerned at all. I didn't exspect you to be here as soon as you heard about what happened. I know that's not possible. But I exspect you to at least care or worry about me. As far as I can see, you don't seem to give a fuck about how I am. I'm your son, god damn it Not some stranger or someone from work you barely know. Though you would probably care about people from work more than you obviously do about me," He finished bitterly.

Victor seemed to be stunned momentarily, totally taken aback and surprised by Martin's reaction. Then he glanced at Samantha again, obviously not wanting to discuss the topic in front of her.

Martin noticed the look his father was giving Samantha.

"Dad, this is Samantha. I guess you still remember her from the office." He didn't say anything about her being his girlfriend; that fight yould have to wait for another time. But his tone made it very clear that he was not going to send her away.

Victor, getting the message Martin was giving him, seemed to resign. "Martin, listen.

I know you're angry with me, but the things you just said... they're not true." He paused, and a look of sadness spread across his face as he added, "I thought you knew me better than that."

Martin was surprised to see the look on his father's face, but he was not giving up yet. As he replied, his tone was still cold and distant.

"Yeah? And how exactly did you exspect me to get to know you when you were never at home?"

"If I might remind you, it was you who decided to move to Seattle and then New York." The coldness was back in Victor's voice.

"And why do you think I decided to move as far away from home as possible? But I'm not even talking about this right now. Where were you when I was a kid? You were never there when I got home from school, you didn't watch any of my football games and even if we were on a vacation you alyways had work to do or some important people to meet. You were never there for me, especially when I needed you. Your career always was more important to you than your own family." By the time he was finished, Martin was breathing heavily. His mother stepped closer to his bed and put a hand onto his arm to calm him down a bit.

The look on his father's face was one Martin had never seen before: regret and guilt.

"I know I made a lot of mistakes in the past, but I can't change it anymore. And I also don't know what to do now. I guess I'm not good at these things. So, what do you want me to do, Martin?" Victor asked with his voice full of sadness again.

Martin's expression finally started to soften as he saw the honesty on his father's face.

"You could maybe start by not making the same mistakes again."

Victor stepped next to Martin's bed, slowly reached down and grabbed his hand. "I'll try,"

He said softly.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: It's been too long again, I know. My only excuse is school being a bitch (sorry for that, but it's really been horrible these last few weeks). Well, here it finally is, Chapter 20. I said it would be an epilogue, but while writing it I realized it was far too long for an epilogue. But still, it's the last chapter. If anyone wants to have a sequel, tell me, and I'll try to work on it, though I don't have much time to write. (I wrote this chapter while I was sitting on a balcony in a hotel in Turkey where I spent a two week holiday, so you see, I don't have time to write at home.)

So, that's it, my final A/N. I hope you all had fun reading and thanks again to all my wonderful readers and reviewers, you are the best. This is for you.

_Dedicated to: higherbeingfriendsfan, missusmesser (I know, I take too long in updating, sorry), outrageous band geek (thanks again for all of your reviews, you made me laugh every single time), lapmal, thebondgirl and awesomepossum (Oh, believe me, if I had any influence on the writers at all they'd already have three kids ;) )_

_Special thanks to: Debz and Kate (my wonderful beta-readers/editors)_

**Chapter 20**

Two weeks had passed since the arrival of his parents and Martin was finally to be released out of hospital. Things with his father had gone surprisingly well. The week following their 'argument', his father had visited evry single day, even if it only were a couple of minutes after work.

Victor had, this time not to Martin's surprise, but against his will, taken a leading roll in the investigation of the ambush. Martin had tried to talk him out of it, because he didn't want to get any special treatment just because he was the son of the Deputy Director, but his father hadn't listened to him. Following another argument just mere hours after the first one, Martin had finally given in, seeing there was no chance he could keep his father out of the investigation.

So, because of his work in the office (he had taken residence in one of the offices at the MPU), Victor didn't have much spare time to spend with his son, but still he tried to be there every day.

Martin had requested to stay informed of any progress in the investigation or any news concerning Dornvald and his fellow, but as his father refused to give him any information and Danny didn't know much, as he was kept out of the investigation himself, Samantha was his only source in the office.

She visited him every day after and before work, and at first had also not wanted to tell him what was going on, saying he wasn't in the shape to worry about an investigation. But after Martin had used some of his irresistable charme and flirting skills she had willingly told him everything he wanted to know.

This way, only two days after he had been brought to hospital, he received the news of Dornvald being killed by Jack in a shooting at Port Authority. Martin was relieved to hear that Dornvald was finally gone and couldn't do any more harm to anyone, but deep inside, he had a strange feeling of disappointment for not being able to see him pay for what he had done to Adisa, Paige and himself. When he told Sam about it she assured him not to feel bad because of it and that she had felt that way herself. She said it was normal after what Dornvald had done to him.

He felt better afterwards and was thankful for Sam being there for him so much and being a great help in the progress of getting better and getting his old strength back. The firts few nights in hospital had been really tough for him, for every time he lay in bed and closed his eyes to try and get some rest, pictures of the ambush started clouding his mind, making it impossible.

Because of this, he was thankful for Sam spending the first day with him and even staying overnight in the chair next to his bed, even though he insisted on her going home, not wanting to admit he needed her. After he knew Dornvald was gone, he finally calmed down a bit. The dark thoughts stopped intruding his mind all the time and he finally got some well-needed rest at night.

But as Samantha had started work again, he knew she couldn't spend all of her time at the hospital because she needed to go home sooner or later to grab a shower and get some sleep herself. He finally convinced her to sleep at home when he was transferred to another station on his third day. It was the day after Samantha had told him the news of Dornvald's death, and he actually slept through the whole night without remembering any of his nightmares when he woke up the next day.

That day, like Samantha and Danny had told him on their first visit, Jack dropped by for the first time, as he was now finally allowed on the station. They didn't talk much at first, neither knowing what to say, but after five minutes of uncomfortable silence Martin finally asked Jack what exactly had happened at Port Authority. That started the conversation and they talked for nearly two hours, Martin telling Jack about his feelings upon hearing the news of Dornvald being killed and Jack informing him of everything that had happened in the office the last few days.

It was nearly ten p.m. that night when the nurse finally threw him out, telling him he could visit again the next day. Jack hadn't come by yet, but he had called Martin, telling him that he was sorry, but that work was taking too much time and that he didn't know when would be the next time he visited.

But Martin had enought visitors anyways, with Sam spending all of her time that wasn't occupied with work at the hospital, his mother fussing over him and even telling the nurses what to do and a bored Danny, who had been send home from work by Jack after complaining the whole day about not being able to do anything useful when he was stuck in the office (he wasn't allowed back in the field yet because of his arm) hitting on every nurse in the hospital.

Even Viv had visited several times after she was allowed to get up. Most of the time she visited in the morning when her husband was at work and Reggie at school (at least she hoped he was, like she told Martin once) and she was bored herself and wanted some company. They used to talk about everything except work, both of them agreeing it was too depressing to talk about this topic when no one had any news to tell the other.

After one week in the hospital, Martins parents left for D.C. again, his father being needed at work. His mother asked him a hundred times if he really wanted her to go, that she could stay in New York longer if he needed her and that she couldn't just leave him alone when he was in a condition like that. After Martin had assured her again and again that he would be okay, Sam had promised to take care of him and Danny had told her he would keep Martin entertained 24/7 she finally left, though reluctantly, still not wanting to leave her 'baby' alone (Martin had to to endure the teasing of both Danny and Sam the whole following week).

The second week in hospital Martin had finally gotten some action, as he was finally allowed ot walk, even if it only was in his hospital and with a cane to support his still weak right side.

Today was the big day. He was finally to go home and Sam was going to pick him up from the hospital at three o'clock. He was barely able to sit or lie on his bed for five minutes. The pretty blonde nurse (Danny's favourite) who dropped by his room every few minutes joked she had never seen a patient that eager to get away from her like him. Martin had forgotten his excitement for a minutes and joked back that, if he wasn't already taken, of course he would want to stay longer, but he promised to make sure Danny would (have to) come by soon.

But as soon as she had left, Martin remembered that he was about to go home and checked his watch. 6 minutes to go, only one less than the last time he checked. He started pacing the room again. Actually, he didn't know why he was that eager to get out of hospital. Of course, the two weeks had been really hard for him to take. Being stuck in a room all day was extremely boring when, as a FBI agent, he was used to go out into the field most of the time.

But he had a feeling that wasn't the only reason he couldn't wait for Sam to finally pick him up. He suspected she had some kind of surpsise planned for him, as she had acted strange the last time she visited, though he was absolutely clueless as to what she could have planned. Nevertheless, he was extremely excited.

A knock on the door pulled him out of his reverie and he glanced at his watch to see it was one minute to three. The door opened, and a huge smile spread out over his face when he saw Sam, she was smiling herself.

"Hey," She said and stepped into the room. "You ready?"

"Of course I'm ready," Martin replied, "I thought you'd never come."

Sam smiled even wider and crossed the room until she was standing directly in front of him. She looked up into his eyes, a smug smile plastered on her face. "Mmh, aren't we a bit eager to go home?"

Martin moved closer so their noses were nearly touching and their lips were only inches apart. "You could say that. But I think evryone would be at the prospect of going home with you, don't you think?"

"You tell me," Sam whispered, her lips hovering above his.

"I definitely think so." With that, Martin closed the distance between them. The kiss was soft and slow at first, but Martin quickly deepened it as he puled Sam closer, his hands resting low on her waist, and she slung her arms around his neck in reply.

Sam broke away several moments later with a smile on her face and breathing heavily. "Let's get out of here."

"Let me just grab my bag and we're out of here," Martin replied.

"No, no, no." Sam grabbed Martin's arm just as he was about to turn towards his bed where his black duffel bag, with the clothes Sam had grabbed from his apartment two weeks ago, lay.

"What?" Martin asked and throwing Sam a questioning glance.

"You didn't really think I would let you walk outside, carrying that bag?" Sam replied, her eyebrows raised.

Something in the way she pronounced the word 'walk' made Martin look at her suspiciously. "What exactly do you mean by 'not let me walk outside'?"

Right then, the door opened and revealed the blonde nurse Martin had talked to earlier, pushing a wheelchair in front of her. Martin looked from the wheelchair to the face of the nurse, then turned towards Sam and shook his head slowly. "Oh no," He said with a quick look towards the wheelchair.

"Oh yes," Sam replied.

"Sam, there's no way I will-"

"Oh, yeah, you will," Sam replied determinedly, "Martin, you're not goin to get out of this hospital except in this wheelchair. I know I won't be able to keep you from walking round your apartment the following weeks, but we're in the 7th floor of this hospital and the elevators are down the hall. So while you're still using that cane, you're _– not – going to – walk_."

The way she pronounced the rest of her sentence made Martin shut up for the moment and accept his fate, as he didn't see a way around it anyway. Instead, he slowly turned away from the bed and walked past Sam, purposely not using his cane for support and throwing her a glance that said 'See, I can walk on my own!', but she just shook her head in reply.

Finally giving up, Martin let himself fall into the wheelchair heavily and watched as Sam picked up his duffel bag from the bed. With a small smile, she stepped in front of him and placed the bag in his lap. "_Now_ you're allowed to carry it outside."

"Thanks," Martin replied.

Sam chuckled slightly, then turned his wheelchair around and pushed him out of the room. They said goodbye to every nurse and a few doctors on their way outside, having gotten to know them during the last two weeks as Martin had spent all of his and Sam most of her time at the hospital.

When they finally got outside, Sam helped Martin get into the car and placed his duffel bag in the trunk. She brought the wheelchair back to the entrance of the hospital and finally got into the car herself. "So," Martin started, "you gonna take me to your apartment or mine?" They had agreed it would be easier if they lived together the first few weeks after Martin was released from hospital. This way, she could take care of his laundry and grocery along with the things she had to do for herself anyway, as he wasn't allowed to do anything himself yet. Additionally, she could make sure he took his medication every day and went to physiotherapy regularly.

"I decided we'd go to yours. This way you have all of your clothes and I don't need to get them from your apartment every time. My bags are already at your place, I packed everything I will need for at least two weeks. That okay with you?" She threw a short sideway glance at him, not taking her eyes off the road for long as she maneuvered them through the early afternoon traffic of New York City.

"I'm absolutely okay with it," Martin replied and placed his hand over hers, which was lying on the armrest between them, and squeezed it softly.

Sam smiled at him, then, as if remembering something, she said, "Oh, we need to make a short stop on the way. I wanted to grab some files from the office I need to get done for tomorrow. I thought maybe you'd like to drop by the office for a couple minutes, say hello to everyone?" Her voice held a question, though she knew he'd jump at the prospect of finally getting back in the office.

"Are you serious?" Martin asked, staring at her wide-eyed. "You're not letting me walk out of the hospital on my own but you'll let me go into the office on the 18th floor?"

"Hey, don't make me think about it, maybe I'm going to take back my suggestion," Sam threatened, though her tone was playful, and Martin knew she was just joking. He lifted their still enterwined hands ands dropped a kiss into the palm of her hand.

"Thank you," He whispered.

They arrived at the office about twenty minutes later. But once they were inside the building, it took them nearly just as long to get to the 18th floor, as Martin was being greeted by nearly everyone they met, even some people, as Martin told Sam once they were inside the elevator, he had never seen before.

When the elevator doors finally opened and Martin stepped outside, he felt like a litlle boy in a candy shop, barely able to contain his excitement about finally being back (at least for a short visit).

They walked down the hallway towards the bullpen side by side, Sam's hand sliding into his and squeezing it in a comforting gesture. When they finally reached the glass doors and stepped inside, Martin wasat first surprised by the huge crowd which had clattered in the usually quiet bullpen until someone pronounced "He's here!"

The noise in the room rose quickly, as everyone moved towards the doors where Martin and Sam where still standing to shake his hand, tell him it was good to see him back or ask him when he would finally be able to return to work. He kept telling people the same things, that he was also happy to be in the office again, but that he didn't know when he would be allowed back to work.

After he had shaken nearly 200 hands, he was finally able to escape and slowly made his way towards their small conference table where he had seen Sam sit earlier, talking to another agent. Quietly approaching her from behind, he placed his hand on her shoulder, making her jump.

"So, did you get your files?" He asked with a small smile as she turned to look at him.

"God, Martin, you wanna give me a heart attack? You know, I won't be able to take care of you if you do."

Martin chuckled and dropped a short kiss on her head when he noticed a huge cake on the table in front of her with the words 'Welcome back' written on top of it.

"What, there's a huge chocolate cake waiting for me and no one tells me about it? I've been here for nearly half an hour!" Martin exclaimed with mock shock.

"And of yourse that's the first thing you think about as soon as you're back: food." The teasing voice made Martin and Sam look up to see a grinning Danny standing across the table.

"Hey man, I thought you weren't allowed back to work yet?" Martin greeted him.

"I'm not, tomorrow's my first day, but the boss said I was allowed to your little 'Welcome back' party."

"That's right, but if you're going to hang around here any longer I might think about your return to work again," Jack replied as he and Viv stepped next to Danny. He shook Martin's hand and said, "It's good to see you back. And I mean all of you." He turned to look at Danny and Viv.

"Yeah, right, cause that's not only your 'Welcome back' cake, it's mine as well," Viv said with a warning look towards Martin.

They all started laughing at the same time, until Martin finally joked, "I'm in such a good mood today, I might eventually leave some of the cake for you. We'll see. But it's definitely good to be back."

Danny and Viv nodded in agreement, and Sam took Martin's hand which was still resting on her shoulder and replied, "And it's even better to be back together again." With that, she stood up and turned around, facing Martin. Not caring that all eyes were on her, she leaned in and kissed him.

The End


End file.
